Rachel and I were talking about how our library is really weird about manga. They carry a strange assortment of titles, and they’re all spread over the place.
And don’t get me started on how hard it is to search the library catalog. There are a few manga titles in the ‘young adult graphic novels’ section, but most of them are in the Science Fiction isles.
Hellsing in the Fire Reference Section?
It’s kinda weird when you’re looking through classic sci-fi authors and suddenly there are a few copies of the Saiuki manga.
So what are your experiences with your local library? And more importantly, what do you think about manga at the library? Take the poll, then tell us your thoughts in the comments section!
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Tags: library manga, manga poll
I think it’s great to have manga in the library, I just wish the catalog distinguished between volume 1 and volume 14, particularly when I’m using it to make an interlibrary-loan request in our metropolitan-area library.
The fact that I can’t select which volume of manga I’ll get is what prevents me from using the library almost exclusively for manga. Instead, I buy manga, then donate them to the library when I’m done reading them….
dm – I bet that’s really frustrating! I don’t know why so many libraries stock their manga out of order. Sometimes they only carry random volumes! T_T
I think it’s pretty cool that they have manga in libraries. at the book stores, it’s like 9-12 dollars or even more for ONE VOLUME. and then they have like the buy 4 get one free deals, it’s just too expensive. If the libraries stocked better volume amounts and in order, it would be good. My library carries like 3 Rurouni Kenshin’s, in random order, it’s like 5,8, 15. It’s annoying. ^.^
The only good thing I’ve ever gotten out of the library was the third volume of evangelion and penguin evolution. There are a pathetically small amount in the library, and the majority of them are checked out all of the time… Too bad. And with how expensive manga is (with something like fruits basket, you’re paying a nickle a page! That’s ridiculous), I only stick with internet for my manga. Before people start pointing fingers at me, I have around 80 volumes of manga and manga related magazines, so I’ve done my contributions to the business.
I recall going to the manga section(In the Kids section) when I was in middle school. I’m not sure if it has changed since then, but it was second-hand, incomplete, and falling-apart books.
Now, I’d rather go to the book store.
I’ve loved libraries. Free books you can read for almost nothing? it’s HEAVEN. Problem is, now I’m in Los Angeles and I got inside the library once, it’s dang scary O_O it’s freakishly huge and I don’t even know how to search, let alone search for something as elusive as manga. I just buy it, saves me time -_-U
I wish they would have more manga at the library so people will stop loitering at the bookstores and bending the manga I want to buy >__>
Since my library is pretty close to my highschool, they’re quite a big selection. Unfortunately a lot of them are lame stereotypical shoujo. Sometimes you find things you wouldn’t expect to find, like Haibane Renmei DVDs. It’s like digging for gold
So I’ll admit that I’m a little biased in my views here. I’m a librarian who started reading this blog while I was in library school and helping run an anime club in my former library, where I was a clerk. Most of the libraries in our system have the graphic novels separated in its own collection, alphabetical by the author’s last name and I like to think that we have a pretty good collection at my branch, but then again we are very lucky to be in a library system where you can order items from the other 30 branches and receive them sometimes in less than a week!
For anyone whose library has a weird collection or they are cataloged without volume numbers, etc. Please talk to the librarian in charge of the collection. If there’s only random titles scattered around, it could be that the librarian is only receiving them through donations and doesn’t realize that there is a real interest from the patrons, or maybe they are willing to expand but haven’t known where to start in purchasing.
Inconsistent cataloging and lack of volume numbers on items is one of my pet peeves, and usually it is the case that there are several different people cataloging the records in their own ways. Unfortunately, manga and graphic novels are still “new” enough to the library setting that subject headings can be inconsistent, and so keyword searches often work much better than subject searches. Once again if anyone is having trouble searching for something, talk to your librarian! Don’t be shy! We LOVE helping people (well, at least I do)
Well, I’d have to say that I think nothing of manga in the library, because 1) no one here’s even heard of manga, and 2) I’m in a prestigious college where no one in the libraries would even bother to sully their hands with manga.
My local library has a good selection of manga, and they organize it very well, both in the library itself and in their online catalog. They have a lot of great titles that I’ve been able to get there, and I’ve found some really great series through my library. They also keep up with the series, buying new volumes of popular series very quickly after they’re released, and buying multiple copies of popular series that are checked out a lot. Almost all of the manga is in good to great condition, although some of the more popular ones may be a little beat up – the Naruto volumes, for example, suffer from relatively severe rough handling, but it’s not like they’re unreadable.
Manga has it’s own section in the teen area of the library, and there is another (much smaller) section of manga in another part of the library alongside various comic book and graphic novel stuffs – I’m guessing this is because they ran out of space in the normal manga section, as the titles there aren’t that different or anything. The manga is arranged neatly in alphabetical order by title name, and individual titles are arranged by volume number. After reading these comments, I’m very thankful I have a library that appreciates not only manga, but good organization as well.
I know I’m a bit late in posting but…. I’m a librarian and I feel your frustration. I’ve been working for years to get our manga in a special Manga section at the library I work at. I am finally making some headway.
You’ve got to understand that manga represents a relatively new genre for public libraries. Catalogers just didn’t know what to do with them when the librarians started stocking them. We have had battles about whether they should be in their own genre (What I believe) and the catalogers who said they had to be catalogued under “741.5…. ”
As for the collections themselves… It is really tough knowing what to purchase. There doesn’t seem to be one place where librarians can go to get reviews of all the thousands and thousands of titles that are out on the market. A select few (very, very few) graphic novels get reviewed in traditional library review sources and reviews of manga just aren’t out there. I’m online today trying to search for the best new manga and I’ve come up with very litte to go on. I just signed here hoping to make some headway. Any help that anyone can give me would be greatly appreciated.
Mine is pretty cool with Manga. They do have a wide variety of different ones, and they don’t have them sporadically placed in the library. My library is even cool enough to have an anime club and they’re having some sort of anime slumber party where everyone watches anime (don’t know which ones, but I’m bringing my Azumanga Daioh dvd just in case) and eats sushi or pocky or something.