Week 13 Prompt - Role of YA and Graphic Novels

While I'm no longer surprised by the things someone will find to complain about in the library, I have not heard criticism of the size or mere existence of our teen or graphic novel collections. As both are on the outer perimeter of our branch, maybe potential protestors just haven't wandered far enough to find them, or were distracted by the X-box (which does generate complaints).

As for whether adults "should" be reading either genre, I honestly haven't heard or sensed that type of judgment either. We have adult patrons who are fans of both genres. From conversations we've shared, I know not all the middle-aged women checking out teen titles are picking up books for their children. Many started reading Harry Potter with their kids, then moved on to Twilight, if they have daughters, or possibly the Divergent trilogy, or The Hunger Games. They then discovered they liked the quick-moving, easy-to-finish even with a busy schedule teen novels. In 2012, Publishers Weekly reported on a survey which found 55% of YA books were being purchased by adults, and of those books, 78% were for the adults' personal use (New Study, 2012).  

Personally I'm extremely grateful to work with an avid YA reader. Not only does she help me keep up with YA authors, series and trends, she loves the dark, dystopian, and fantasy YA titles which would be at the bottom of my personal reading pile. Often she'll ask, "have you read (insert name of teen fantasy title)?" only to quickly add, "of course you wouldn't read that!" We both laugh and I ask her to tell about her latest read. I reciprocate with reviews of literary fiction which she has tried but, in most cases, just does not enjoy. Win-win! We both read what we enjoy and share information to provide better readers' advisory to our patrons.

Just as I appreciate the wide-ranging reading tastes of my co-workers, I respect and do my best to assist adult patrons searching for YA or graphic titles. Not only is it good customer service, but it is the foundation of librarianship and readers' advisory found in Ranganathan's Laws -- "Every reader his (or her) book. And, "the library is a growing organism" hopefully making room for new and growing genres for all our patrons.

Resources:

New Study: 55% of YA Books Bought by Adults. (2012, September 13). Publishers Weekly. Retrieved April 10, 2016, from publishersweekly.com