2b.+School+Libraries+-+Issues

Selections:
There are many considerations to be made in the selection of graphic novels for the school library:


 * 1) Perception - There is the belief by many that graphic novels are merely comic books filled with violence, and although they may provide entertainment for their readers, there is not general substance to them (Seyfried, Miller, de Vos). Some teachers and parents may not support or allow students reading graphic novels during class time.
 * 2) Suitability - As we have encountered in an earlier seminar on CBLDF, there are titles, in particular manga, which have some content that contains nudity, excessive profanity, sexually explicity scenes, etc. All of which are clearly not suitable for elementary students, and depending on the level of the "inappropriate" content, my not be suitable for middle or even high school students.
 * 3) Cost - During times of excessive budgetary cuts in schools, everything comes down to the necessities. Unless obtained used, graphic novels can be quite expensive, and due to the misperception, they are not seen as a priority, compared to other literature which might be used to support the curriculum or increase literacy skills of students (Haynes, Miller).
 * 4) Commitment - In order to build a successful graphic novel collection in which circulation of the novels is high, it takes dedication from the library staff to find quality titles which have received good reviews from professional reviewing sources, as well as readers (Miller, de Vos).
 * 5) Selection policy - As is evident from the responses, some school districts do not yet have clear selection policies in place. I did not ask for responses from teacher librarians (t-ls) in other districts because that would make this seminar project much larger than it is meant to be; however, I have had casual conversations with enough t-ls to know that we are the only district that does not have a selection policy for graphic novels. I believe that issue is closely tied to the misperception of graphic novels. It is important to have a clear selection policy in place for graphic novels so that challenges can be dealt with in a substantiated and professional manner.

Collections:
There are several options that need to be considered when placing graphic novels:
 * 1) How can graphic novels be best promoted and easily circulated amongst students?
 * 2) Should they be catalogued in the 741.5 (Comic books, graphic novels, fotonovelas, cartoons, caricatures, comic strips) section because they could be considered "comic art" (Miller)?
 * 3) Would it be better to shelve them in with their subject/genre?
 * 4) Should there be a dedicated call number all its own for graphic novels, so they could be shelved in their own area?