On 17th March I attended a free webinar presented by Nancy Silberkleit, co-CEO of Archie Comics, titled Children + Comics = Reading, Knowledge and Confidence. Silberkleit advocates for the use of comics and graphic novels as tools to encourage children to read and as aids for introducing children to concepts such as diversity and inclusion.
Graphic novels are becoming increasingly popular among children and young adults (Short, 2018). Although this genre has previously been looked down on by many librarians and teachers, graphic novels and comics require users to decode text, images and other modes, and so there is growing recognition of the role of graphic novels in aiding the development of multiple literacies (Boerman-Cornell, 2016). I learned that the visual nature of comics can make them more engaging and – for some young readers – less intimidating than novels. Silberkleit proposed that librarians could also employ comic books and graphic novels as icebreakers for children to think and talk about difficult issues.
While not the intended topic of the webinar, the issue of how diversity is portrayed in library collections quickly arose. One of the attendees made the point that it is important for children to be able to see themselves in a story. When asked about how Archie Comics have evolved in terms of their diversity, Silberkleit pointed to the inclusion of a gay character and plans for an autistic character. However, representation is not just about the presence of diverse characters. It is also important to consider who is representing that diversity (Bladow, 2019). Silberkleit also spoke about her experience as the first female executive at Archie Comics and only the second female CEO in the industry, noting in particular the challenge of having no one to mentor her. Indeed, the comic book industry as a whole has struggled with diversity both in terms of how minority groups have been portrayed – if they are present at all – and of its staff (Hudson, 2015). The representation of minority groups should be an important consideration for information professionals when building graphic novel and comic library collections.
Following Silberkleit’s webinar I had both a greater appreciation for the complexity of diversity in library collections and increased awareness of my own limited knowledge of how information professionals can tackle this issue in practice. In their review of efforts by librarians to tackle racism in children’s books Salem (2021) points to the potential of using metadata to analyse collection diversity and identify gaps. Tools such as Social Justice Books’ Guide for selecting anti-bias children’s books (Derman-Sparks, 2013) are also available. However, as I hope to work in the public library sector I plan to do further research to learn how Australian public libraries have been addressing this issue.
Featured image “Comic Books” by Sam Howzit is marked with CC BY 2.0.
References
Bladow, K. (2019). Framing storytelling: Indigenous graphic narratives. Journal of Popular Culture, 52(1), 35-52. http://doi.org/ 10.1111/jpcu.12757
Boerman-Cornell, W. (2016). The intersection of words and pictures: Second through Fourth Graders read graphic novels. The Reading Teacher, 70(3), 327-335. http://doi.org/10.1002/trtr.1525
Derman-Sparks, L. (2013). Guide for selecting anti-bias children’s books. Social Justice Books. https://socialjusticebooks.org/guide-for-selecting-anti-bias-childrens-books/
Hudson, L. (2015, July 25). It’s time to get real about racial diversity in comics. Wired. https://www.wired.com/2015/07/diversity-in-comics/
Salem, L. (2021). Documenting the portrayal of diversity in children’s books. Collection Management, 46(3-4), 174-185. http://doi.org/10.1080/01462679.2021.1888834
Short, K. (2018). What’s trending in children’s literature and why it matters. Language Arts, 95(5), 287-298.