Week Twelve Prompt: Young Adult, New Adult, and Graphic Novels
As an adult who reads a variety of genres including young adult literature and graphic novels, I think it is extremely important that librarians work to ensure that these types of books are included in library collections. When I think about ways that librarians can promote young adult and new adult fiction as well as graphic novels to adult patrons, the term “cross-merchandising” comes to mind. I am pulling from my retail experience here, but I think incorporating these less popular genres into book displays and social media posts alongside books from more mainstream genres is a great way to diversify passive readers’ advisory.
For example, I am currently working on a book display for Asian
American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month which is in May. I have found
several adult fiction books with Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders as protagonists
and/or authors. Similarly, there is a wide range of nonfiction history books,
biographies, and memoirs about Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders. However,
I believe it’s also important to include films, audiobooks, CDs, and graphic novels
in a display like this. Showcasing a variety of genres and formats in one
display allows librarians to feature related titles that may have lower
circulation rates and introduces patrons to titles, and most importantly, different
genres, which they may not otherwise pick up.
The decision to include underrepresented genres such as YA
and NA fiction and graphic novels in a book display shows patrons that these
genres are just as important and worthy of being featured as any other genre.
The same is true for other formats including audiobooks, DVDs, and CDs. What
makes these genres or formats so different from any others included in a
library’s collections? YA and NA books and graphic novels tell stories just
like any other books do, and some readers prefer stories which offer different
perspectives such as those of young adult or new adult protagonists. Similarly,
the illustrations in graphic novels play a major role in how a story is told
and aid in evoking tone, plot, character, setting, and other elements, in ways
that words cannot always do. Highlighting the importance of including these
lesser-known genres in library collections supports the idea that the library
is a place for all patrons and should be a home for materials which all
patrons will enjoy.
I agree that including multiple formats in a library display is a smart move. Thank you for giving it a name from your retail experience: cross-merchandising. I have never herd that term before, but it fits this scenario perfectly. We might not be trying to sell the materials in a monetary sense, but we are definitely trying to promote them so they get checked out. Keeping displays divided by different formats or age ranges can be damaging to our circulation numbers. For example, if YA books are only displayed in the teen section of a library, adult patrons will be less likely to peruse them because they will believe those titles are not for their age group. If those same books were mixed in with other materials with the same theme, they might catch the notice of a patron who would not have seen them otherwise.
ReplyDeleteI like your term "perspective" for helping define YA or NA as a genre but I still think these are actually age categories. Since they both encompass other genres like romance or supernatural, its difficult for me to collapse NA, and particularly YA, into a singular group. I think what makes YA different from other items in the collection that might be put in a book display, for example, is that they are intended for teens; that doesn't mean adults shouldn't read them but it does make them different and I don't think it serves teens well for librarians to start thinking of this literature as equally intended for adults. When Jesse mentions that if YA books are only displayed in the teen section adults will think they are not for their age group all I can think is...but they aren't for an adult age group (which again doesn't mean they can't or shouldn't read them). But isn't it better to keep the YA books in the teen section where adults know they can go get them rather than move them to a display in the adult section where a teen probably won't find them? (on the other hand I like the idea of a display that is inter-generational in a common area)
ReplyDeleteHow many teens read books that appear in our adult section? I would guess that a high percentage of them have and do, but do book displays in the teen section promote items from the adult side of the library? If not, would we consider that adult fiction is "underrepresented" in passive YA RA? I honestly don't know if adult books are promoted in youth areas.
I don't think I quite understand what appeals YA books have that adult books don't have. Wyatt and Saricks have mentioned several times in our textbook the trend of genre blending and borders that aren't well defined. Creating new genres, like NA, kind of seems like a losing battle. I definitely want these books to be available to patrons but I also think there are some issues in the way that some of these titles are being marketed and that our ideas of genre are changing.
I also agree that having multiple formats on display for adult patrons at the library is a really good idea. This really could help get patrons get an interest in something that they usually don't check out. Another thing I agree with is that it could help circulate items that are hardly ever checked out because when they are out on display they will have a better chance of being noticed and then possibly get checked out as opposed to just being in the shelves, blended in with so many other books. Adults shouldn't be looked down upon if they still read graphic novels as they are for a variety of people, not just one group and libraries are meant to allow people to check out whatever they want to without feeling judged.
ReplyDeleteExcellent prompt response - full points!
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