Week 13 prompt response:
I don't think adults should be shamed out of reading graphic novels or young adult books. I read both! I would say that the majority of YA checkouts at my library are by teens but I also see a lot of adults checking them out for themselves. The majority of graphic novels are checked out by adults in my opinion even though my library separates them into regular graphic novels and YA graphic novels
(the two sections face each other, so if you're browsing YA graphic novels you can turn around and the regular graphic novels are right behind you and vice versa. So it's not like they're separated in order to censor, it's just by age level).
As librarians we can make sure we are able to serve adults who enjoy graphic novels and YA books by making a case for acquiring those materials for the library's collection. By obtaining the newest titles in both genres, we can ensure that those parts of the collection are up to date. We can also be sure that we are serving adults who enjoy those genres by working to break the stigma that only teens and tweens should be reading them. I used to be a bit ashamed at picking up YA novels then I had my job interview at my current library and this happened:
The interviewer (my current boss, who is a lovely person and great librarian) asked me to tell her about the last book that I read and how I would recommend it to a patron. I embarrassingly said that the last book I read was a YA title but that I really liked it. Unbeknownst to me, she was the teen librarian at her last library and possesses a passion for YA books like I've never seen before. She ended up abandoning the interview questions for a while to recommend to me all these great YA titles and to tell me to never be ashamed of liking YA novels because the authors are willing to try out new ideas and concepts within the genre since young people are so open minded. So you might pick up a YA novel to find an entirely new concept or idea you'd never even thought of. And that's why I'm not ashamed to read YA anymore!
I don't think adults should be shamed out of reading graphic novels or young adult books. I read both! I would say that the majority of YA checkouts at my library are by teens but I also see a lot of adults checking them out for themselves. The majority of graphic novels are checked out by adults in my opinion even though my library separates them into regular graphic novels and YA graphic novels
(the two sections face each other, so if you're browsing YA graphic novels you can turn around and the regular graphic novels are right behind you and vice versa. So it's not like they're separated in order to censor, it's just by age level).
As librarians we can make sure we are able to serve adults who enjoy graphic novels and YA books by making a case for acquiring those materials for the library's collection. By obtaining the newest titles in both genres, we can ensure that those parts of the collection are up to date. We can also be sure that we are serving adults who enjoy those genres by working to break the stigma that only teens and tweens should be reading them. I used to be a bit ashamed at picking up YA novels then I had my job interview at my current library and this happened:
The interviewer (my current boss, who is a lovely person and great librarian) asked me to tell her about the last book that I read and how I would recommend it to a patron. I embarrassingly said that the last book I read was a YA title but that I really liked it. Unbeknownst to me, she was the teen librarian at her last library and possesses a passion for YA books like I've never seen before. She ended up abandoning the interview questions for a while to recommend to me all these great YA titles and to tell me to never be ashamed of liking YA novels because the authors are willing to try out new ideas and concepts within the genre since young people are so open minded. So you might pick up a YA novel to find an entirely new concept or idea you'd never even thought of. And that's why I'm not ashamed to read YA anymore!
I agree 100% about YA being a genre like any other. I don't think it matters the age a good book is a good book.
ReplyDeleteI love that the librarian said that! A lot of people know I'm a reader and often talk to me about books they read. Some people act embarrassed when they tell me they are reading a YA book and I have to tell them all the reasons they shouldn't be. I'm not a big reader of YA, but some of my favorite books are YA. Recently, my mom expressed interest in YA books and she's in her 60's! I recently recommended a few, so I am interested in hearing what she thinks.
ReplyDeleteReading your last paragraph made me realize that a lot of YA Romance novels are ahead of the curve on diversity of characters and love stories than the contemporary romance I lean towards. I'm intentionally seeking out contemporary romance books with no other qualifiers and almost all the stories are male/female love stories with non-white characters starting to be more prevalent recently, but the majority of characters are white. I was volunteering at our library before the closure and shelf-reading in YA and got to explore some new books to me. There was a much more diverse range in YA than you could find in adult, for sure.
ReplyDeleteGreat story! I'm glad you're no longer ashamed. It's such a great diverse genre. Wonderful post, full points!
ReplyDelete