Week 13 Prompt - Young Adult, Graphic Novels, and Urban Fiction

I like to think that most of the reluctance to include a wide variety of materials in library collections comes from a lack of knowledge about those genres/materials and a fear that libraries won’t be able to support a wider range in their collection.  Unfortunately, however, the reality is that some people really do cling to a close-minded view of what is “appropriate” for certain patrons, no matter how much the larger library community wants to serve their patrons well. 

I’m a big advocate for YA literature for adults, especially given the high quality that most of what I’ve read lately has been.  Our Teen Fiction section is one of the most heavily shopped sections of the store, and only about two thirds of the shoppers in those sections are teens.  We are even creating a New Adult section early next week that will be shelved between the teen and general fiction section.  We also have a huge section for graphic novels, and I’ve loved talking with customers to get to know the titles that they love.  All of these trends in a commercial setting indicate that these types of materials are growing increasingly popular, so it is great to see these genres grow in local libraries as well.  We’ve considered starting an urban fiction section as well given the large number of titles we have in that genre, but unfortunately, there isn’t currently a whole lot of demand for that genre in my area. 

I have visited quite a few libraries in my area recently, and my favorite layouts are those that don’t have obvious separations between sections.  In my local library, the graphic novels are shelved with the teen books, and those shelf fixtures are obviously different in height from the adult fiction next to it.  Those libraries that use universally sized fixtures have fewer barriers to casual browsers that might be afraid that they’ll be judged for their reading choices.  

One of my favorite things that my local library does is that they make it easy to submit materials requests.  There is a limit to the number of materials you can request (five per month), but the process is simple.  Patrons simply fill out an online form with all the information they know, and if the purchase is approved, they get an automatic hold on the item when it comes in.  If the purchase is not approved, there is an option for an interlibrary loan request.  I’ve used this several times, and librarians that I’ve talked to at the library about this have stated that frequently, if one patron requests it, numerous other patrons are also excited to check out the material.  They do also frequently advertize this process, so that many patrons are regularly requesting materials.  This allows the collection to grow organically, and patrons can be sure that they will find materials that they want.