Together at Last: Batman and Maus!

Over the summer, we used our interdepartmental superpowers to create the Bentley Library’s first-ever Graphic Novel section. At long last, our graphic novels and comic book collections are all together! Batman and Maus used to be located on different floors of the library. No longer shall they be separated.* Why do we have a graphic novel section? Well, that’s because comic books and graphic novels are awesome! They are often a gateway to literature. Some folks just aren’t that into reading books, but graphic novels can change that. Bentley Alumna Jamie Carrillo (2012) had this to say when she heard about our new Graphic Novel section: “I am very jealous of this comic book/graphic novel section Bentley has now. I actually started reading them after a display in the library. I picked up Blankets and liked it; then read Black Hole and was hooked. I've never been much of a reader so graphic novels work well for me." In the past two years, three Bentley classes have used graphic novels as required reading. Our aim is to create a serendipitous browsing experience for students taking these classes, as well as the professors teaching them. We hope that the Bentley community will benefit from this consolidation. If you’re checking out Alison Bechdel’s Fun Home (now an award-winning musical), maybe Vietnamerica: A Family’s Journey  or Hellboy might strike your fancy. If you’re confused by the terms “graphic novel” and “comic books” here’s a quick explanation: Marjane Satrapi’s Persepolis is a graphic novel. It was published as one opus, not in single issues and then collected into one book. Graphic doesn’t mean violent and novel doesn’t necessarily mean fiction. The term “graphic novel” roughly means a story told through illustrations and words. The Graphic Novel section also includes comic book collections of issues of Sandman, Amazing Spider-Man, and many more. Those are serialized collections of comic books. We also have manga like Ranma ½  in our Graphic Novel section, but that’s a whole other kit and caboodle. We went with Graphic Novel section because Graphic Novel, Comic Books, and Manga section was wicked long. 

Our new graphic novel section! I'm pretty excited about it. Photo by Kristen Richards

Our Graphic Novel section is located on the upper level of the library, at the end of the Oversize section. If you are browsing our catalog, you will see that the location for most of our graphic novels is Oversize. That doesn’t mean that the books are necessarily big, it’s just the location where they are shelved. New and popular graphic novels, like the latest comic book collections of The Walking Dead, will continue to be shelved in the Popular Reading section. Online, you can browse a selection of these titles on Pinterest. We hope that you like this new section! *This is a pilot program. It is possible that they will be separated again if it is not a success.