Prompt Response: Young Adult, New Adult, and Graphic Novels

Prompt:  Though this week's group of "genres" (Young Adult, New Adult, Graphic Novels) 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. 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 believe that public libraries should provide a wide range of materials for adult pleasure reading, including YA literature and graphic novels.  The Reading Agency, a UK based nonprofit, found that “(t)here is strong evidence that reading for pleasure can increase empathy, improve relationships with others, reduce the symptoms of depression and improve wellbeing throughout life (“Reading for Pleasure…,” n.d., para. 1).”  Reading for pleasure varies widely among the population and therefore, public libraries should provide the materials to meet needs across that spectrum. 

Speaking of spectrums, libraries should not only be providing YA literature and graphic novels, but they should be aiming to provide a wide variety of materials within these genres.  Both YA literature and graphic novels can range from fantasy to romance to horror, and collections should represent this diversity.

I don’t read a lot of YA, but I will occasionally grab titles that are talked about or written by authors I love.   Flanagan (2008) said about the YA romance novel, Twilight, “stirred something in me so long forgotten that I felt embarrassed by it (para. 8).”  But I think that return to the feelings of adolescence can feel like an escape that older adults like me sometimes desire after a day of endless adulting.  I recently stumbled across a Sophie Kinsella book in the YA section while volunteering at my library, so I took it home and read it as she is one of my favorite chick-lit authors.  It was a fun read and took me back to all my angsty teenage years for a few hours. 

In addition to providing a range of materials for adults, libraries should be marketing YA materials and graphic novels to their patrons and on their social media accounts to draw in new and reluctant adult readers.  One way to do this is with tie-ins to current trends in pop culture, movies, etc., that readers may already be aware of.  For example, earlier this year, Netflix released the second movie in the “To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before” trilogy by Jenny Han.  This would have been a great opportunity to do a YA display on teen romance series.  (I picked up the series when the first movie came out and subsequently read all three books in about four days). 

Another idea I’ve seen at libraries is book clubs for fans of YA or graphic novels.  These can be helpful in taking the stigma out of these genres by connecting readers to other fans of the genres.   And since both genres are so diverse, they can help reluctant readers to try new “genres within a genre.”

In summary, public libraries should be aiming to provide and connect all readers with high interest materials, regardless of their perceived literary merit.

References:

Flanagan, C. (2008). What girls want: A series of vampire novels illuminates the complexities of female adolescent desire. The Atlantic, 108-120. http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2008/12/what-girls-want/307161/

Reading for pleasure builds empathy and improves wellbeing, research from The Reading Agency Finds. (n.d.).  Retrieved from https://readingagency.org.uk/news/media/reading-for-pleasure-builds-empathy-and-improves-wellbeing-research-from-the-reading-agency-finds.html