Ordering the Classics

Manga has exploded in popularity recently, but the genre has existed long enough to have its own canon. You wouldn’t start a British literature collection without Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen, and manga holds a similar group of titles considered to be essential classics. Many of these series include Dragon Ball by Akira Toriyama, YuYu Hakusho by Yoshihiro Togashi, Slam Dunk by Takehiko Inoue, and Sailor Moon by Naoko Takeuchi. Classic titles like these will serve as a stable foundation to grow a manga collection and popular manga titles will appeal to those who are interested in the genre, but don’t know where to start.

Ordering and Weeding Titles

Manga is challenging to collect due to the high total of long-running series. For instance, 105 English language-translated volumes of the series One Piece by Eiichiro Oda have been released in America. This should not deter you from ordering long-running series, as a series wouldn’t be long-running if it wasn’t popular. Yet there are two things to consider if your library decides to collect a long-running series: cost and shelf space. Collecting a long-running series will affect your budget. Is your budget substantial enough to collect every volume of the series? Is your budget big enough to also order other series? Collecting a long-running series will also affect shelf space for your manga collection.

The most crucial tip for weeding is to avoid selectively removing volumes from a long-running series. Doing so can leave readers with an incomplete experience. Instead, consider whether other libraries in your system hold certain titles before making any decisions.

Short Stories

Short story collections are a great addition to any manga library because they require minimal commitment from readers. Each story can usually be enjoyed independently, allowing readers to skip around without missing key plot points. Additionally, since these collections are not part of continuous series, you won’t risk having incomplete sets if you choose to stop ordering them.

Beast Complex by Paru Itagaki is a series of standalone short stories that bring together different carnivore and herbivore animals as they try to overcome conflict. These unique situations vary from a crocodile and a gazelle cohosting a cooking show in “The Crocodile and the Gazelle” to a snow leopard finding out that her movie co-star, a Japanese deer, had a hunger for method acting in “The Japanese Deer and the Snow Leopard.” Itagaki’s blending of different characters with unique moral situations brings to mind Krzysztof Kieslowski’s television series Dekalog, which dramatized moral conflicts of the Ten Commandments.

Junji Ito is a prolific author of horror short stories, a unique storyteller whose work doesn’t shy away from certain themes such as collecting or idol worship. Ito also doesn’t shy away from incorporating an assortment of objects into his stories. Two noteworthy stories incorporating a unique theme and object are “Hanging Blimp” and “Used Record.” “Hanging Blimp” is a deflating tale about balloons that appear with people’s faces on them, while “Used Record” is a story about a vinyl record with a deadly sound. These series can serve as a gateway to the authors’ longer works, such as BeaStars by Paru Itagaki and Uzumaki by Junji Ito.

Genres

Manga is an art style that serves its readers in various genres. The slice-of-life genre, for example, focuses on everyday life. Prominent titles include the comedy manga series Skull-face Bookseller Honda-san by Honda, which is about working in a bookstore, and The Way of the Househusband by Kousuke Oono, which follows a former Japanese mafia member who enters the dangerous world of homemaking. There are also sports manga series such as Eyeshield 21 by Riichiro Inagaki, which focuses on the American game of football. A unique series in another popular genre, action, is Gunsmith Cats by Kenichi Sonoda, which follows two female gunsmiths who fight crime in Chicago.

Reprints

Another useful collection tip is that older manga series like Eyeshield 21 can be difficult to acquire. Many older series are out-of-print in English, making them limited on the secondhand market and bearing high costs. Manga also doesn’t have a classics series in the English language, like Barnes and Noble Classics, which reprints popular older titles to make them accessible for a broad, contemporary audience. Despite these challenges, manga reprints occasionally occur, so I’d advise you to check publishers’ or booksellers’ websites consistently to check for reprinted manga.

The post Building and Curating a Manga Collection to Meet Growing Community Demand first appeared on Public Libraries Online.

I love mangas and I order them all the time for our library. But most importantly, our young adult circulation went up 48 percent as a result of the increase in manga variety and availability. They are especially popular with our reluctant young readers. So, with the aim of finding out about all of the new mangas, I applied for the Pro Pass and headed to the show, along with my colleague Jermaine Dennie. Dennie runs our library’s popular weekly Animation and Graphic Novel Club. He also bought a pass out-of-pocket for one of his club regulars, Clayon Gaile, an 18 year old who dreams of having his own series called Captain Nitro. (After he talked to Gaile’s mother to make sure it was okay for him to miss a day of school that day).

Since it was early, and Dennie and Gaile weren’t there yet, I just walked right in and went straight to the exhibits. There were so many booths as far as you could see, each one selling or displaying something exclusive or one of a kind. However, the biggest attraction is the fans themselves because so many people were wearing really amazing costumes. I stopped by the Sanrio Booth, and I got a photo with the official Hello Kitty Mascot.

Author at SanRio Booth at New York Comic Con.

In addition to exhibits, there were many panels and workshops. I attended a few panels, one of them being the unveiling of the preview for “Regarding my Reincarnation as a Slime,”  a new manga about a young adult who dies and gets reincarnated as a slime.  There were other manga titles featured including one that takes place in the future with people “upgrading” their bodies into gem stones. One manga that really sounded interesting was “Cells at Work,” in which each cell in the body looks like a person with a job to do.

I also attended panel discussions, including one about reading and experiencing graphic novels in 3-D using virtual reality. Imagine being able to live in the world of our favorite characters and stories. At another panel discussion I heard about  plans for “virtual libraries” where patrons put on a visor and get transported to a virtual library. They can browse books and read them without ever having to leave home.

Meanwhile, my colleague stayed in line for over an hour to make sure Gaile got his pass to get in. He encouraged Gaile to talk to the different artists and pick their brains about what it takes to succeed in the comic book industry. In fact, one week later on Dennie got an On-the-Spot Award from the library director, which our library gives out in recognition of someone going above and beyond their line of work.

The post New York Comic Con 2016 first appeared on Public Libraries Online.

The following are a few places to begin your journey into the wonderfully diverse world of genre literature.

• Bitten by Books is a site dedicated to the paranormal reader community. Features on the site include author and reader community chats, book and film/ TV reviews, and contests and giveaways. http://bittenbybooks.com/
• Goodreads is a virtual reader community and social network that allows users to provide book reviews, create forums and groups, link up with their favorite authors, win book giveaways, and create lists. Although it is not a genre site like the others listed, it does have features that earn it a place on this list. Goodreads invites users to rate “best of…” books annually and within genres,  authors and publishers host chats and forum discussions frequently on the site, and genre-based groups regularly make suggestions, hold virtual book club meetings, and share news with members. http://www.goodreads.com/
• Io9 is the resident science fiction, fantasy, and related genres blog from the Gawker community. Its regular features include “Morning Spoilers,” with news of upcoming genre media; “Superlist,” which include book and other media “best of…” compilations; and reviews of novels, graphic novels and comic books, films/DVDs, and other media releases. io9 is sure to be a useful resource for anyone looking to learn about what genre fans are talking and to what they’re looking forward. http://io9.com/
• No Flying, No Tights is a one-stop resource for librarians and educators interested in graphic novels, comic books, and manga. Though the site was developed primarily as a resource for adults working with YA readers, No Flying, No Tights does have a page dedicated to adult-level titles.  Remember, however, that comic book and graphic novel readership interests, reading levels, and content often overlap between YA and adult readers. Therefore, much of the site’s content is applicable for both young and adult readers. http://noflyingnotights.com/
• Smart Bitches, Trashy Books is the romance-reader’s blog. Never pandering to the stereotype of the avid romance genre reader, Smart Bitches infuses reviews with thoughtful criticisms and worthwhile recommended reading titles. Posts on the site include essays about the genre, news about upcoming titles, romance author Q&As, publisher and retailer sales events, and more.  http://smartbitchestrashybooks.com/
• Steampunk.com is a website dedicated to topics of interest to the steampunk genre including book reviews, suggested reading and “best of…” lists, steampunk lifestyle and fashion tips, and other interest articles. This site is an especially good introduction to the steampunk genre in all its facets. http://www.steampunk.com/
• Street Fiction is a site dedicated to reviews and features of the street lit genre. Books of this genre are urban-centric realistic fictions (or non-fictions) with characters, settings, and situations that relate to living in urban areas and often minority or disenfranchised communities. Street Fiction includes reviews, author interviews, and other features related to street lit titles. http://www.streetfiction.org/
• Tor is the consummate genre geek’s blog. Its tagline is “Science fiction. Fantasy. The universe.” Articles cover the gamut of genre from all ends of the media spectrum and include features on upcoming and existing titles. http://www.tor.com/

The post What You Don’t Know About Genre first appeared on Public Libraries Online.

Core Collection
If your library does not have a manga collection already, and you would like to start one, there are some core titles that should be included.  Naruto (T), Bleach(T), and Dragon Ball Z(T) (all published by Viz Media) are all Shonen manga which is aimed at males and often includes action and fighting.  These series have had anime broadcast on Cartoon Network, so most patrons will be familiar with them.  Shoujo, or manga aimed at females, usually includes romance mixed in with comedy or adventure.  Some core Shoujo titles to include in a library collection are:  Sailor Moon (T), Skip Beat (T), and Vampire Knight (OT).

Expanding Your Manga Selection
If you already have a manga collection developed here are some titles that I suggest you add to your collection.

• Blue Exorcist (OT) is a series that has supernatural elements, and deals with demons (a popular theme in manga).  This is an action series that has been very popular at my library.
• Fairy Tail (T) is another supernatural series, this one is centered on a teenage wizard.  Fairy Tail has been extremely popular with teen boys at the Benton Harbor (Mich.) Public Library.
• Bakuman (T) is a Shonen title about a boy who loves to draw manga; it’s an alternative to the large amount of fighting or battle manga titles out there.
• Soul Eater (OT) is another popular Shonen series.  This series focuses on students at the Meister Academy who are all working on making their living weapons (humans who can transform into weapon form) into the ultimate fighting weapon for Death himself.
• Arisa (T) is a Shoujo series that centers around two sisters, trying to unlock a mystery within their school.
• Vernomia (T) is another action science fiction series that appeals to fans of Fairy Tail.
• Ouran High School Host Club (T) is a gender-bending shoujo series that includes lots of humor.

NonTraditional Manga
Manga is traditionally Japanese, but more American authors are getting involved in the genre.  Yen Press has published manga versions of many popular series.  These series include James Patterson’s Maximum Ride (T) and other series, Darren Shan’s Cirque Du Freak (T), Cassandra Clare’s Infernal Devices (OT), and Gail Garriger’s Soulless (OT) series.  The Cirque Du Freak and Maximum Ride series have been especially popular at my library.  The Scott Pilgrim(T) series, written by Brian Lee O’Malley, is also published in graphic novel format similar to manga (although it isn’t read backwards).  This is humorous series with a movie tie-in that helps increase its popularity. Another great way to find out what manga to add to your collection is by asking your patrons.  I’ve gotten many valuable suggestions from my patrons.

The post Manga: Tips for A Great Library Collection first appeared on Public Libraries Online.