Hello, School Librarians!
I am delighted to announce that I’ll be attending Lighting The Future, the joint School Libraries Conference in Windsor, on Saturday 9th June 2012 presenting interactive show-and-tell workshops on Manga And Graphic Novels.
I’ll have some 50 beautiful Young Adult graphic novels for you to feast your eyes on and for us to discuss as we gather round the tables and gawp.
Each graphic novel which has proved popular – both on the shop floor and with the school libraries we supply – has been carefully selected fromPage 45’s range of over 7,000 different graphic novels to demonstrate the quality and diversity of comics available for both genders, each age range and different environments.
There will be no PowerPoint presentation with me talking at you. Instead it’s about you, the books and your pupils. I’ll also be available throughout the day (just ask the organisers – they have my mobile number) and for as long as you want afterwards for further discussion and questions.
The Books
These are the books I’m currently scheduled to bring with me, and each title has been linked to the book on our site so you can read its Page 45review. If a series of books appears, please click on any individual cover to read the review.
General
Amulet
Anya’s Ghost
Beanworld
Bone
Chiggers
Coraline
Courtney Crumrin vol 1: The Night Things
Death Jr.
Grandville:
Grandville: Mon Amour
Gunnerkrigg Court vol 1: Orientation h/c
Life Sucks
Mouse Guard
Robot Dreams
Scott Pilgrim vol 1 (of 6)
Silverfin: A Young James Bond Adventure
The Arrival
The Lost Thing
The Plain Janes
The Rabbits
The Unsinkable Walker Bean
Zita The Spacegirl
Younger Readers
Day I Swapped My Dad For Two Goldfish s/c
Glister: The Faerie Host
Gum Girl: Catastrophe Calling!
Magic Trixie vol 2: Magic Trixie Sleeps Over
Simpsons
Sonic The Hedgehog
The Shark King h/c
Vern and Lettuce
Educational
Evolution: The Story Of Life On Earth
Judenhass
Making Comics: Storytelling Secrets of Comics, Manga and Graphic Novels
Manga Shakespeare
Pyongyang: A Journey in North Korea
Science Tales
Understanding Comics
Advanced
Asterios Polyp
Daytripper
Persepolis
Manga
Bakuman
Bleach
Dragonball Z
Legend Of Zelda
Naruto
Nausicaa Of The Valley Of Wind
One Piece
Pluto
Saga Of Darren Shan
The Strategy
The key to a successful manga and graphic novel section in any school library is three-fold: quality, diversity, contemporary. If they’re not currently being bought in our shop, they’re not going to be read at school.
Unlike larger distributors not on the front line themselves, we know exactly which titles young adults are choosing to spend their own money on, and there’s no more telling sign than that.
Young male literacy especially is down, but the good news is this: we’ve had a headmaster phoning us up mere days after a delivery and delightedly reporting his male pupils were fighting – fighting over the manga and graphic novels! I’d call that a win. Well, he did!
I could have brought forty more suitcases of manga alone, and another sixty superhero crates too. But don’t worry, we can help you select any you fancy to tie in with perfectly with the latest films, whilst making sure that the more violent ones never sully your shelves!
The recognition factor should not be overlooked: if they already know about a title from animation, television, cinema, games or – in the case of The Saga Of Darren Shan – prose, then that’s a lure which often proves irresistible.
It is just a launch pad, though, and the books I’ll bring with me will take both you and your pupils further.
Useful Information
But basically this: we’re here to help. Email, phone or pop in yourselves. Don’t feel you need to make appointments – our regular customers don’t, so why should you?
Proof Of The Pudding Post-Script
Confession: I was a reluctant reader. My Mum couldn’t get me to read at all until she bought comics. But they worked, I lapped them up voraciously and – many more moons ago than I care to confess – I grabbed myself a B.A. Hons in English Literature and the History Of Art.
They’ll work for your schools too.
Don’t misunderstand me: graphic novels have never been a poor man’s substitute for prose. They’ve just been perceived that way in the UK. This medium is magnificent, firing up adult imaginations all round the globe, which is why I’m here.
They will also engage the imaginations of the pupils you work with – guaranteed!
– Stephen
Hi Stephen and Rhys. Thank you so much for coming to the conference where you inspired all of us! I’m sure you hear from many school librarians now. 🙂 Hope to see you soon.
Annike
[…] took the whole concept on the road this year after being asked to present Page 45′s graphic novels to the school library conference in Windsor. It was the last presentation of the weekend and each librarian, somewhat weary, thanked me for […]
[…] ITEM! Huge, in-depth article in Publishers Weekly by Heidi MacDonald about the growth of graphic novels in libraries. Librarians (school and otherwise), here’s a big blog I wrote containing all the links you could possibly need to great graphic novels but also the show-and-tell services and discounts Page 45 gleefully offers to libraries! […]
[…] ITEM! Huge, in-depth article in Publishers Weekly by Heidi MacDonald about the growth of graphic novels in libraries. Librarians (school and otherwise), here’s a big blog I wrote containing all the links you could possibly need to great graphic novels but also the show-and-tell services and discounts Page 45 gleefully offers to libraries! […]