[Michlib-l] Ypsilanti District Library receives Will Eisner Graphic Novel grant

[Gillian Ream Gainsley]

Hi folks,
The big announcement will happen at ALA, but we are proud to have been selected as one of two libraries in the country to receive the Will Eisner Graphic Novel grant! Story below:
Ypsilanti Library Receives Graphic Novel Grant
Special project will focus on medical uses of graphic novels

The Ypsilanti District Library (YDL) is one of two libraries in the country to receive the Will Eisner Graphic Novel Award, an annual award from the Will and Ann Eisner Family Foundation.

YDL has made comics and graphic novels a focus of their collection, largely in response to patron requests. The library also hosted comic book legend Art Spiegelman at Pease Auditorium this month, and held Comic Book Day events for kids during spring break. Spiegelman and Will Eisner can both be credited with creating some of the first comic books that grabbed the attention of the literary community, spurring the "graphic novel" genre.

"We have more and more people looking for graphic novels at the library, and they get checked out almost as much as bestsellers" said library Assistant Director Lori Coryell.

The award, valued at $7,000, includes funds to expand the library's graphic novel collection and host a graphic novel event, a collection of Eisner's work and graphic novels that have been nominated for the Will Eisner Award at this year's Comic-Con, and a stipend to send a librarian to the American Library Association conference to accept the award and engage in professional development.

Taking a new turn on many perceptions of graphic novels, the library's grant will focus on how graphic memoirs can be used in medical treatment and recovery. This approach to using graphic novels is a relatively new field, popularized by the UK group Graphic Medicine. With funds from the grant, YDL will purchase graphic novels that relate to illness and addiction and host a guest speaker to meet with health care providers about how they might use graphic novels in their practice.

"Graphic novels really lend themselves to memoirs, so there are some really personal accounts of what it is like to deal with illnesses and addiction," said Susan Brown, the librarian who manages the adult graphic novel collection at the library's Whittaker Road location. "The medical collection is an interesting project. I've been following the Graphic Medicine group for several years and I'm glad we're going to be able to expand this collection and share knowledge about new ways for people to experience graphic novels."

Patrons will see the graphic novel collection expanding at YDL in late 2014, and the special events related to graphic novels in medicine will begin in spring 2015.
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Gillian Ream Gainsley
Communications and Development Coordinator
Ypsilanti District Library
ggainsley at ypsilibrary.org<mailto:ggainsley at ypsilibrary.org>
734-879-1303

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