It was time to open up to a new chapter

When I started my current position as a children's librarian, one of my collection development areas was the juvenile fiction collection. As I was initially evaluating the collection and determining my users needs, I saw how lacking the collection was in juvenile graphic novels. The only books that resembled graphic novels were the Garfield books by Jim Davis and the TinTin books by Herge. I couldn't help but notice that many libraries around me (including where I worked) had graphic novel collections, but they were only for teens. I didn't like this concept and was about to make a bold statement by ordering graphic novels designed especially for children.

Finally the light bulb went off and I began a special collection of "Juvenile Graphic Novels". While the collection only took up two shelves, I was mighty proud because I knew that this collection would grow and many children would benefit from it. While I had less than 100 circulations the first month it was available, a year later, I have over 1,000 circulations a month and the collection keeps growing and the patron interest continues to grow. A big thanks goes out to today's publishers who realized that kids need graphic novels and comic books just as much as the big folks do!