DECIDING WHERE TO SHELF COMICS IN PUBLIC LIBRARIES

Knowing where to put comics in libraries is a real mystery for many of the people working there. Most of the people working there, I'd say.

I recently had a go at writing some guidelines. Here they are...

GUIDELINES ON GRAPHIC NOVEL CATEGORIES :

Is there swearing in this comic? ADULT
Are there images of sex in this comic? ADULT

As with all media, when it comes to violence you can get away with more. (Popeye spends most of his time punching Bluto in the face). If there is a lot of blood and guts (Hellraiser levels) it might have to be ADULT.

A few things re. having books in junior sections –

1. An adult can appreciate a kid’s comic because they like the art. This is unlike novels for children, where an adult won’t look at it to admire the typeset. There are more technical aspects to graphic novels outwith the story itself to be appreciated by readers. So these should not be relegated to junior or adult.

2. Many comics were made for kids, but now decades have passed. A collection of Victor comics – many adults will be interested to read that nostalgically. It shouldn’t be relegated to junior or adult.

3. More so than regular novels, there is a large amount of “all-ages” material in graphic novels. Books that kids can read, and adults will enjoy too. These should not be relegated to junior or adult.

For these reasons, I think a separate graphic novels section placed nebulously between adult / teen / junior is the way to go. I have observed that this is also how they are arranged in some other library authorities. The above ADULT exceptions being marked with a  simple “Mature Readers” sticker on the date label, and definitely put in the adult section.

[Regarding big busted superheroines – maybe these should be in teen? Teen boys may enjoy them. But then they may have a negative effect on teen girls. In the adult section then? But they are often puerile nonsense. I find these the most problematic. Putting them in the separate graphic novel section would be best.]

SUMMARY: 1 general graphic novels section not directly aligned to either adult, teen or junior. Another smaller section in the adult fiction.

This is my account of what I think is the best way to proceed with graphic novels. I do not think using junior and teen categories on the computer system is useful, and will limit issues.

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Here's an interesting one. This is from the librarians' shelf, possibly in the back store at your local branch. Graphic Account is aimed at librarians and covers how comics and graphic novels should be dealt with in the collection.

Its most notable piece is the one by Mel Gibson. She is a well known comics expert nowadays, appearing on the BBC's Comics Britannia series, and doing talks at comics conferences and library events. She really knows her stuff. Here though, we find her just beginning to think about graphic novels' place in the library.

The book gives an insight into how interested parties in libraries view comics, or at least how they did in 1993.

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In my continuing mission to convince you to go to the library and check out what they have on comics which started here and continued here, I present Great British Comics by Paul Gravett and Peter Stanbury. This book is more recent than those other two, having been released in 2006.

Gravett is a comics publisher, historian and general enthusiast. His writing covers a lot of bases regarding comics, as he writes on nostalgia, comedy, super-heroes, self-published works and anything else he deems good. This book is a treat. It's jam-packed full of images from comics down the decades.

A few of my personal highlights:

















This is really neat. Near the beginning of the book, there is a set of comics writers and artists' bios presented in the style of old cigarette cards. A nice touch.


















As I've never stopped reading comics and kept most of the ones I had as a kid, I rarely find any that I had forgotten about. This Adam Ant page though was like a bolt from the blue when I saw it reproduced herein. It's lovely art, but uncredited (it was published by D.C. Thomson after all). It actually reminds me of Walt Simonson, which sees highly unlikely, to say the least. Does anyone know who drew this?


















Look at this page! Three of my absolute favourites of the 70s/80s: Marvelman by Alan Moore and Garry Leach, Night Raven by Jamie Delano and David Lloyd and Captain Britain by Alan Moore and Alan Davis. That is value for money. The 1969 Billy the Cat stuff by Sandy Calder looks fun too.

Gravett is a tireless campaigner for comics. Check out his website. It is an invaluable resource in keeping on top of what's going on in the world of comics.

WHIZZER AND CHIPS FACSIMILIE

In my local library, they keep copies of The Beano and Dandy in the kids' section, which seems like a great idea to me. I was surprised today to see a copy of Whizzer and Chips. A brand new copy of Whizzer and Chips. Surely that was cancelled years ago, I thought to myself. It must be a facsimilie.

Indeed it was. Looking into it online, it seems The Guardian gave away comic freebies every day for a whole week very recently, and I missed it. Bummer.

Anyway as an image to go with this story, here is the cover from my copy of Whizzer and Chips from 1979. Yes, I still have it. It's a bit the worse for wear:

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Another remarkable comic I've just read courtesy of my local library is Ally Sloper's Comic Kalender, published in 1875.

Ally is generally regarded as the first comic character in the UK (please send all dissenting theories to someone else), and also fights it out with the Yellow Kid for the title of first ever.

What a find...

GET THEE TO A LIBRARY

Do yourself a favour and sit down at the Online Public Access Catalogue in your local library and do a search on "comics" and "graphic novels". I've tried this in a few different authorities and it always yields results.

Today I got hold of What children think of their comics by George H. Pumphrey, published in 1964. It's a snapshot of an attitude from another time. I know I am going to enjoy reading it, as flicking through it I read this snippet:

"Superman and Superboy fulfill the wildest phantasies, and to the mature adult seem stupid and humourless in their fantastic adventures. Adult violence and undesirable criminal activities still flourish in these American-type magazines and one can only deplore their existence. The Poole Education Committee in August 1963 urged a ban on the importation of this kind of magazine, and they will have the support of all adults who examine these publications."