cfp.english.upenn.edu

Call for Papers--Graphic Novels in Libraries and Archives: Ideas and Issues.

Graphic Novel publishing has exploded in the last decade. While, during the mid-1990s, it might have been possible for even a modestly budgeted library to acquire much of the published Graphic Novel output, now it is almost impossible even for libraries with big budgets to afford EVERYTHING published in this format. What was once considered a “cult” of devoted Graphic Novel readers and fans is now a part of the mainstream of readers. Graphic Novels is the one area of publishing that continues to grow year by year.

I am looking for essays that deal specifically with how libraries and archives have dealt with and are dealing with Graphic Novels in their collections. What are the various issues that have come up in regard to carrying Graphic Novels? What solutions, if any, did your library find?

Some of the topics that could be addressed in this book might include:

• Comics in Archives
• Real world issues in censorship of Graphic Novels - a case study on how a particular library or libraries dealt with challenged books
• How are academic libraries dealing with Graphic Novels?
• Promoting Graphic Novels collections in public libraries - Graphic Novel book clubs
• Problems collecting floppy comics in libraries and archives
• History of collecting comics and Graphic Novels in libraries
• Reaching out to Young Adults with Graphic Novels
• Senior library patrons and Graphic Novels - nobody has ever addressed this issue
• Graphic Novel - the term itself - problems with semantics for librarians?????
• Faculty who teach comics/Graphic Novels in other departments (say English/Sociology) and their relationship to their liaison librarian
• Graphic Novels in Libraries: Philosophical Issues
• Problems related to shelving Graphic Novels! Young Adult – Teen - Non Fiction - All Together?
• Manga/Anime vs. Superhero books in Libraries - Which is most popular?
• How to preserve Graphic Novels and comics in archives?
• Extending the shelve life of Graphic Novels in public libraries?
• How the boom of Hollywood movies, based upon graphic literature, affected library use.
• Metadata and Graphic Novels
• Web comics: implications for the library.
• History of comics in libraries
• The story of those Mexican/Spanish Photo novellas in libraries
• The Rise of Graphic Novel use due to Film versions of sequential art characters
• Any other topic related to Graphic Novels and libraries will be considered.
• META-DATA and Graphic Novels

Please send a 200 word abstract by April 31, 2009. Final due date for essays is June 31, 2009.