Week 13 Prompt: Young Adult, New Adult, and Graphic Novels

Prompt: Though this week's group of "genres" all seem very different, they all have in common the fact that many people don't feel that they are legitimate literary choices and libraries shouldn't be spending money on them or promoting them to adults. Obviously, graphic novels are becoming more acceptable, but I still had to fight to get my progressive library in a liberal college town to purchase a book club kit containing graphic novels. The common belief is that adults still don't or shouldn't read that stuff. How can we as librarians, work to ensure that we are able to serve adults who enjoy YA literature or graphic novels? Or should we? I can't wait to read your thoughts on this

As an adult, I can read what I want to read. No one should tell me what I can or cannot read. If you don’t like it, don’t read it. Everyone has different tastes. Young adult, new adult, and graphic novels are all legitimate book categories that everyone should be able to read if they so desire. There are several genres I am not interested in, but I don’t tell people not to read them. If you want to read it, read it. 

 “To simply give up on romance novels or young adult literature as hopeless categories of fiction, fit only for the weak-minded or young and incapable of improvement, is to embrace a kind of snobbery and rigidity about what is worthy and what is not. A hopeless belief in love and a happy endings is not the only perspective that’s adolescent,” (Rosenberg). 

I think adults reading YA is continuing to gain acceptance, especially with the popularity of The Fault in Our Stars and everything John Green. Patrons of all ages were requesting Fault at my library. A good book is a good book no matter the genre or the target audience. 

At my library, many adults read young adult and new adult fiction. The new adult fiction is not separated into its own section or category—it is mixed with the adult fiction. People probably don’t know they are reading a New Adult book, they just know it’s fiction. The YA fiction is in a separate area—the Teen Room. At times, the Teen Room is loud and unruly. I can understand why adults wouldn’t want to go in there. Because of the location of the YA, chances are there are adults who would read it, but they feel strange going into the Teen Room.

Graphic novels are another story at my library. I love graphic novels, but I know a few coworkers who don’t like them at all. I purchased Saga for my library and I thought one of my coworkers was going to have a heart attack. (It was award-winning and I kept hearing about it everywhere. Why shouldn’t my library have it?)

There are many benefits to graphic novels; they are much more than cartoons. They are a great way to get reluctant readers reading. They also help visual learners understand a story; many of Shakespeare’s plays have been adapted into graphic novels. 

I think we have to ignore the naysayers. If adults want to read YA, NA, and graphic novels, we have to provide them for the public. Circulation stats would be one way to prove that these books are worthy and that patrons agree by checking them out. Placing copies of YA books in the adult collection would be one way to ease some embarrassment. An adult wouldn’t have to feel weird and go into the Teen Room to find a book. An adult might be open to reading a YA book if it was on the shelf.

I think making these genres visible would also help. Instead of hiding graphic novels in the corner, place them in a spot where they will be seen. Displays featuring these genres is also another way to show that the library accepts them as “real” books. 

When we are working with a patron on readers’ advisory, we need to mention these genres. Even if the patron isn’t interested in the category, at least they are aware they exist. We have to get the word out that we don’t care what patrons read, we just want them to read something and enjoy whatever it is.

“But then I remember that the truth about reading is that when you’re absorbed in a good book, thoughts of the other books on your reading “to do” list fall away. The book in your hot hands at that very moment solves all your desires and needs. The specter of, say, Emma Bovary, doesn’t loom over Hazel Grace Lancaster from “The Fault in Our Stars,” booming in a French accent: “Read me, I am more important than she is!” And as for the Y.A. war? When you’re deep in a good book, you won’t even hear the drumbeats,” (Wolitzer). 

Works Cited

Rosenberg, Alyssa. "No, You Do Not Have to Be Ashamed of Reading Young Adult Fiction." Washington Post. The Washington Post, 6 June 2014. Web. 12 Apr. 2015. <http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/act-four/wp/2014/06/06/no-you-do-not-have-to-be-ashamed-of-reading-young-adult-fiction/>.

Wolitzer, Meg. "Look Homeward, Reader." The New York Times. The New York Times, 18 Oct. 2014. Web. 12 Apr. 2015. <http://www.nytimes.com/2014/10/19/fashion/a-not-so-young-audience-for-young-adult-books.html>.