LibraryTechtonics

Once upon a time, there once was a nice young gent named Stefan Hayden, graphic artist, event planner, former Bostonist writer, who has a very interesting blog of his own, a sort of techno-renaissance man with an interest in library stuff. On the suggestion of the lovely TangognaT, he sent me an email with an intereseting reference query:

“I have 5 boxes of comic books that I am looking to donate to a library. Most are not bound collection but single issues. I know most libraries don’t generally buy single issues but I was hopping I could find a library interesting in going though and at least using some for their collection.”

It tickles me a non-girly shade of pink to be known as librarian of the comic-loving persuasion, but at first glance, I had no idea how to answer Stefan’s question. So many libraries begrudgingly carry graphic novels and manga, and only the rare collections I’ve actually visited (in Watertown, MA and Greenfield, MA, for example) seem to strive for excellence in comic collection development on *purpose*.

So it was time to do a little homework, as I am wont to do. It’s very Xtreme Reference Challenge ;). In the process, I found some really interesting library collections that I, honestly, didn’t know existed. With Stefan’s permission, I’m posting this story, and my search findings for him and everyone else who might find it interesting.

Unfortunate caveat: I didn’t find anything local. However, if there is a library in Massachusetts that wants Stefan’s donation (he’s in Boston, and would like a place he could drive to, since shipping would be pricey, unless you’re paying…), please feel free to comment on this post, and we’ll network it out. That said, here’s some interesting stuff on comic book collections.

The James Branch Cabell Library (a branch of the Virgina Commonwealth University Libraries) Special Collections and Archives in Virginia sports a Comic Arts Collection web site, complete with a VCU-branded superhero on their comic header graphic. Very cool.

As per the site, “today, the collection includes over 20,000 comic books dating primarily from the 1960s through today; the papers and drawings of two Richmond political cartoonists and several other related manuscript collections; an extensive collection of reference journals, books and other resources donated by Dr. M. Thomas Inge; and a growing collection of reference books supporting the study of all areas of the comic arts.” There appear to be 3 comic collections, a comic periodicals collection, an index to the M. Thomas Inge Papers, and an online exhibit of the noted editorial cartoonist Fred O. Seibel. The various collection listings look pretty extensive, although I wish it were searchable instead of text lists. Perhaps a grad student with a love of comics and a hankerin’ for learning to do that could proposition them? Unless I’m missing it, there was no official collection development policy posted, but the collection is noted as “growing,” so I’m guessing that they would consider donations, depending on what’s in the donation pile.

The Cartoon Art Museum in San Francisco, CA, however, does have a collection development FAQ which includes their standards and recommended resources for appraising your collection (good whether or not you’re donating), and is taking donations. The original base collection itself started as a”‘museum without walls’, setting up shows in local museums and corporate spaces” in 1984. With the help of Charles M. Schulz (yup, the Peanuts guy), a space was established in 1987, and the collection has since moved to a new location as of December 2001.

You can visit the museum for a modest fee ($6 adult admission, although every first Tuesday is “Pay What You Wish Day”), rent the museum for events (which looks so freakin’ cool), attend special events, buy a membership, or even *work* there (they are looking for a real librarian/archivist, if you’re of the persuasion and looking…). This place is totally on my list the next time I’m out on the west coast.

The Rare Books & Special Collections Department of the Northern Illinois University Libraries maintains many interesting collections, including a comics collection, mostly founded in a huge donation from one person, then maintained and grown through predominantly donated acquisitions. The description of the collection notes that the bulk of the collection is from the 1970s onward, and doesn’t include much in the Silver Age (1950ish through 1970ish) or Golden Age (1933ish through 1950ish). Donation information is available in their FAQ.

This is a fully searchable collection, however, not everything in their collection is fully cataloged, and they do admit to gaps in runs (missing issues). They also list a very healthy links list to other comics collections and resources. You can visit the collection as an individual, and they do group visits, so if you’re nearby and looking for a place to take your teen group (especially that ever-elusive library user group, teenage boys), sounds like a nifty field trip.

Michigan State University Libraries also houses and maintains a Comic Art Collection with quite the international flare. A read through the collection development policy (which looks a little more like an official library policy, and is therefore a bit more dry, academic, and wordy, so not such an easy online read), shows that they collect US, European, Asian, African and Latin American comics as well as Fotonovelas (School Library Journal published an excellent article on fotonovelas and why you should have them in your library, especially if you have a Spanish-speaking constituency). There is a donation information page, with a nice, quick wish list, and instructions on what to do. This is another collection that is not searchable via a database, so if someone snatched up the VCU gig mentioned above, I’d say hit these guys up next.

Despite all the hoopla about whether or not Wikipedia is a good place to get info (and, well, as librarians, we know that we can use it, just to use it *wisely*), it’s the perfect place for such otaku knowledge on comics and manga. The Comic Book Collecting Wikipedia article is digestibly brief, which is most nifty, but even niftier is the list of collections at the bottom, which includes links to myriad comic book collections, mostly housed in *libraries*. Very exciting. I didn’t wade through the list for collection development policies, but if the four listed above don’t work out, this list is a good next stop. There are also two links to resources on assessing the value of your collection, but I think that the other collections cited above may have more (not so one-auction-house oriented) resources on that front.

Other neat stuff I came upon in my poking about:

• Free Comic Book Day: I normally highlight this on my blog, and somehow I didn’t get my email reminder, and I missed it this year. This makes me the saddest panda ever. However, it’s an annual event, so there will be another one next year.
• 24 Hour Comics Day: Luckily, I haven’t missed this one for the year (there was one on April 23, 2006, but the next one is scheduled for October 7, 2006), which is super, because I’ve never heard of it before. As an “international celebration of comics creation,” shops and schools are pretty involved, so it’d be nice to see some libraries get in on this ink action.
• Night Flight: This joint in Salt Lake City, Utah, just plain brilliant. “Night Flight Comics, the first comic book store to locate at a library, opened with The City Library @ Library Square on February 8th 2003.” [quote from their Free Comic Book Day 2005 page, emphasis mine]
• Racine Public Library Comic Book Sale: From their home page: “The Friends of the Racine Public Library Comic Book Sale will be held in the library’s meeting room on June 17, from 1 - 5 p.m. Donations of comic books for the sale are being accepted at the library’s front desk. We thank you in advance for your support, either as a donor or as a buyer on the day of the sale.” Sounds awesome.
• Comic Book Legal Defense Fund: I knew about these guys already. You should know about them, too.
• The Comic Pimp: Care of Comic Book Resources, an excellent news resource on comics. The Comic Pimp did a two part series (part 1 | part 2) a ways back on getting comics into libraries.

So that’s where my search took me, very cool and interesting stuff. I’ll keep poking to see if I find anything local, and if you work for a library in the Metro Boston area and you want this donation, please comment or email and let me know.

Tags: reader questions
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