Graphic Novel Holdings in Academic Libraries: An Analysis of the Collections of Association of Research Libraries Members

by Werthmann, Eric J.

This study evaluates the quality of the graphic novel holdings of academic members of the Association of Research Libraries in the U.S. A core list of 77 graphic novels that have won awards or are otherwise prominent was developed, and this list was compared with the libraries’ collections as represented in their online catalogs. This was done in order to assess whether academic library collections have kept up with the incredible growth in popularity that the format has experienced in recent years. The study’s findings suggest that ARL members do not have especially strong graphic novel holdings. In addition, the study examined the types of graphic novels these libraries tend to collect. It was determined that they tend to collect works published by mainstream publishers and also those relating to genres they already collect.