Week 13 Prompt Response YA and NA

Though this week's "genres" 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.  Obviously graphic novels are becoming more acceptable, but I still had to fight to get my progressive library in a liberal college town to purchase a book club kit containing graphic novels.  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 read YA literature or graphic novels.  Or should we?

Maybe the question should be, "Why shouldn't we?"  Why would we, as librarians attempt to decide what our patrons should read?  Much of what we have learned about readers' advisory has been about helping patrons find that next book, the one that they will enjoy because it has the elements of appeal that they have enjoyed in other books, not the next thing they should read.

I believe we can ensure that we are able to serve adults who read graphic novels by making sure our collection contains popular and well written graphic novels.  That might seem simplistic, but with so many graphic novels being made into movies or television series, they are becoming more mainstream, and more adults are reading them.  The graphic novel fan base is growing and we need to serve this group of readers.

The recent Pew Research Center study on Younger Americans and Public Libraries found that "Despite their relatively high use of libraries, younger Americans are less likely to say that libraries are important."(Zichuhr & Rainie, 2014)  We need these younger Americans to see that importance of public libraries.  Serving this population and making sure they understand the importance of public libraries is important to our future.  So, why not give them what they want?

While I understand the importance of Young Adults having their own place in the library, I don't agree with keeping it locked and not letting anyone else in.  We do not prevent young people from checking out "adult" books.  Why would we discriminate against our adult patrons by not allowing them to check out YA books?  I think a display of YA titles on one of the displays that usually houses adult titles would be a great way to attract attention to this collection and market it to adult readers.

There are all kinds of reasons why adult readers might enjoy YA books.  Many are very will written with timeless themes.  All of us who are adults were once younger.  Reading books with younger protagonists takes us back.  Young Adults enjoy different themes at different times in their lives, sometimes reading what our children are reading helps us to understand them better.  I remember when my daughter read Twilight, long before it became popular and absolutely loved it.  We waited at the book store until midnight when the final book in the series came out so she could have it as soon as it was released.  She did not leave the couch for a few days.  When she had finished and I asked her how it was, she sighed, placed her hand over her heart, and said, as only a teenage girl can, "It was perfect!"  It wasn't about the vampire theme, it was because true love conquered time and death. Every young girl wants to believe in that kind of love.  Some adults do, too!

Zickuhr, K., & Rainie, Lee. (2014). Younger Americans and Public Libraries. Pew Research Center.