Week 13 Prompt Post
I strongly believe that Young Adult books Graphic Novels belong in the library. It is disheartening to hear that some people may believe otherwise. At the library that I work at, we have large sections for both YA and Graphic Novels, and the patrons love seem to love those materials. I can think of many patrons that come into the library just to get Graphic Novels, and nothing else. As for YA, yes the books in this category are geared more towards teens, but I feel that adults can enjoy them as well.
Young Adult books have a very special place in my heart. When I first started reading for enjoyment, many years ago, I was absolutely enthralled in Young Adult novels. It was all I read, and I never would even look in the direction of Adult Fiction novels. I took some time off of YA novels over the past few years, but I have recently gotten back into them. For the book annotation this week, I wrote about Divine Rivals by Rebecca Ross, a YA romantasy book. I throughly enjoyed this book, like would almost consider it a five story read. I read this book alongside three of my siblings, and they all enjoyed it just as much as me. My oldest sister, who is 34, absolutely devoured this book. She enjoyed it so much that she immediately jumped into the second book. With that being said, I would say that YA can be enjoyed by adults.
With the rise of social media and people talking about books on social media, I feel that YA has gotten a lot of recognition recently. Which is absolutely great to see. I love this genre of books, and I would be absolutely devastated to see them diminish in the library setting. I feel that it is my duty, as someone who loves reading and works in a library, to allow readers to enjoy whatever they please. That includes both YA materials, as well as Graphic Novels. Not including these materials in a library is basically like purposefully excluding a large group of people from enjoying the library. If a library doesn't offer YA materials, what are teens and adults who enjoy these books supposed to do? That goes for Graphic Novels as well.
I genuinely wasn't aware that there are people out there who may disagree with a library adding books in these categories to their collections. I feel on the complete other side of that spectrum. A library should be a place where every individual can go and find something they are looking for/something that they enjoy. By excluding YA and Graphic Novels from a collection is simultaneously excluding those who enjoy that content. Librarians should continue to believe in providing content for all individuals, no matter their own reading preference. I believe that is very important, and a good librarian would hold that belief.
I'm so glad you and siblings liked Divine Rivals! It was honestly more like a 2-star read for me, but I think that had more to do with my own expectations than the actual story based on the popularity of it. I'm considering listening to it because I've heard the narrator is from the UK and I've previously been "meh" on a book then tried listening to it and I immediately liked it so much more.
ReplyDeleteI completely agree with you that libraries should 100% have these materials and 100% should offer them to adults - at least make it obvious they can read them without reservations. Kind of like how Planet Fitness has signs all over the place about "no judgement zones." Plus, if we look at the ALA Library Bill of Rights - materials should be provided for interest and enlightenment and I've found plenty of both in YA novels, and I know some of my patrons have, too.
I agree with your thoughts about YA. I also think that it is an interesting conversation with how YA has blown up on platforms like TikTok. My only worry with adults reading and consuming YA is that authors and publishers will start to tailor YA to fit the tastes of Adults rather than the original audience, teens. Teen focused places have started to dwindle over the years, so it is important that they have their own spaces.
ReplyDeleteI love your thoughts about YA! I had a very similar experience with YA. When I got back into reading for please, I found myself drawn to YA, especially the series that I enjoyed as a kid like The Hunger Games and Percy Jackson. While I have moved on to more adult or new adult books, I always read some YA books throughout the year. I agree that by excluding the YA and graphic novels would exclude those who enjoy the genres.
ReplyDeleteMegan, I like all of your points, and I also feel quite surprised that anybody would argue against having YA and graphic novel collections in libraries. The strangest thing about that argument, to me, is that there seems to be this belief that only adults can benefit from libraries, and therefore, if a book isn't specifically targeted at adults, then it's worthless. And obviously, that's not the case. So, even if adults truly weren't interested in YA and graphic novels (which is also definitely not the case), it would still be worthwhile to have those books available.
ReplyDeleteVery well written! Great response!
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