5 reasons graphic novels are the next big thing at your library

The book format is everywhere, from ESL classrooms to Ivy League libraries.

2. Academic recognition

Once considered the bane of literature, graphic novels have recently earned academic recognition and critical accolades, reports Publishers Weekly.

“Acclaimed books like Art Spiegelman’s 'Maus' (1991) and Alan Moore and Dave Gibbon’s 'Watchmen' (1987) have spurred academic interest in comics, which opened many doors for the medium,” PW writes. “The 2000s brought a slew of new classics as traditional publishers put out much-lauded, award-winning titles like Marjane Satropis’s 'Persepolis' (2000), Alison Bechdel’s 'Fun Home' (2006), Raina Telgemier’s 'Smile' (2010), and 'Jimmy Corrigan: The Smartest Kid on Earth' by Chris Ware (2000).” 

 A 2002 presentation of graphic novels to a rapt audience during an American Library Association panel cemented the comics’ literary and artistic value.

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Dear Reader,

About a year ago, I happened upon this statement about the Monitor in the Harvard Business Review – under the charming heading of “do things that don’t interest you”:

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If you were to come up with a punchline to a joke about the Monitor, that would probably be it. We’re seen as being global, fair, insightful, and perhaps a bit too earnest. We’re the bran muffin of journalism.

But you know what? We change lives. And I’m going to argue that we change lives precisely because we force open that too-small box that most human beings think they live in.

The Monitor is a peculiar little publication that’s hard for the world to figure out. We’re run by a church, but we’re not only for church members and we’re not about converting people. We’re known as being fair even as the world becomes as polarized as at any time since the newspaper’s founding in 1908.

We have a mission beyond circulation, we want to bridge divides. We’re about kicking down the door of thought everywhere and saying, “You are bigger and more capable than you realize. And we can prove it.”

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