{"id":33390,"date":"2025-06-27T18:00:50","date_gmt":"2025-06-27T22:00:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.alsc.ala.org\/blog\/?p=33390"},"modified":"2025-06-27T20:11:29","modified_gmt":"2025-06-28T00:11:29","slug":"graphic-novels-and-comics-in-school-libraries-at-alaac25","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.alsc.ala.org\/blog\/2025\/06\/graphic-novels-and-comics-in-school-libraries-at-alaac25\/","title":{"rendered":"Graphic Novels and Comics in School Libraries at #ALAAC25"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The science of reading is the focus of curricula throughout the nation. However, student engagement and habitual reading are still essential components that are not talked about enough. Just because our students learn\/know how to read, it doesn\u2019t mean that they will read. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<!--more-->\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"650\" height=\"308\" src=\"https:\/\/www.alsc.ala.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/comic-2-650x308.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-33411\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.alsc.ala.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/comic-2-650x308.jpg 650w, https:\/\/www.alsc.ala.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/comic-2-300x142.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.alsc.ala.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/comic-2-768x364.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.alsc.ala.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/comic-2-1536x728.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/www.alsc.ala.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/comic-2-2048x970.jpg 2048w, https:\/\/www.alsc.ala.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/comic-2-1056x500.jpg 1056w, https:\/\/www.alsc.ala.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/comic-2-160x76.jpg 160w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 650px) 100vw, 650px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Panelists at the Graphic Novel and Comic Round Table Friday Forum discussed how graphic novels can motivate students to read and embrace their identity as a reader, which fosters lifelong habitual readers. Beyond motivating students to read, comics and graphic novels are beneficial for students in many ways, including vocabulary growth.<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"650\" height=\"343\" src=\"https:\/\/www.alsc.ala.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/comic-book-1-650x343.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-33410\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.alsc.ala.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/comic-book-1-650x343.jpg 650w, https:\/\/www.alsc.ala.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/comic-book-1-300x158.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.alsc.ala.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/comic-book-1-768x405.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.alsc.ala.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/comic-book-1-1536x811.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/www.alsc.ala.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/comic-book-1-2048x1081.jpg 2048w, https:\/\/www.alsc.ala.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/comic-book-1-947x500.jpg 947w, https:\/\/www.alsc.ala.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/comic-book-1-160x84.jpg 160w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 650px) 100vw, 650px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Additionally, comics and graphic novels can provide accessibility for students with dyslexia or aphantasia, a condition in which readers cannot visualize what they are reading. Recommended graphic novels, published in the past two years, include <em>Mixed-Up<\/em> by Kami Garcia, <em>Very Bad at Math<\/em> by Hope Lawson, and <em>Silverwing<\/em> by Kenneth Oppel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-columns is-layout-flex wp-container-core-columns-is-layout-8f761849 wp-block-columns-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1706\" height=\"2560\" src=\"https:\/\/www.alsc.ala.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/81loKwveDLL.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-33416\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.alsc.ala.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/81loKwveDLL.jpg 1706w, https:\/\/www.alsc.ala.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/81loKwveDLL-200x300.jpg 200w, https:\/\/www.alsc.ala.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/81loKwveDLL-433x650.jpg 433w, https:\/\/www.alsc.ala.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/81loKwveDLL-768x1152.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.alsc.ala.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/81loKwveDLL-1024x1536.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.alsc.ala.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/81loKwveDLL-1365x2048.jpg 1365w, https:\/\/www.alsc.ala.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/81loKwveDLL-333x500.jpg 333w, https:\/\/www.alsc.ala.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/81loKwveDLL-60x90.jpg 60w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1706px) 100vw, 1706px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\"><div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-large is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1650\" height=\"2399\" src=\"https:\/\/www.alsc.ala.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/81FOlGd1-uL.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-33414\" style=\"width:246px;height:auto\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.alsc.ala.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/81FOlGd1-uL.jpg 1650w, https:\/\/www.alsc.ala.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/81FOlGd1-uL-206x300.jpg 206w, https:\/\/www.alsc.ala.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/81FOlGd1-uL-447x650.jpg 447w, https:\/\/www.alsc.ala.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/81FOlGd1-uL-768x1117.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.alsc.ala.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/81FOlGd1-uL-1056x1536.jpg 1056w, https:\/\/www.alsc.ala.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/81FOlGd1-uL-1409x2048.jpg 1409w, https:\/\/www.alsc.ala.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/81FOlGd1-uL-344x500.jpg 344w, https:\/\/www.alsc.ala.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/81FOlGd1-uL-62x90.jpg 62w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1650px) 100vw, 1650px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1400\" height=\"2087\" src=\"https:\/\/www.alsc.ala.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/81qTy8xauRL.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-33415\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.alsc.ala.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/81qTy8xauRL.jpg 1400w, https:\/\/www.alsc.ala.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/81qTy8xauRL-201x300.jpg 201w, https:\/\/www.alsc.ala.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/81qTy8xauRL-436x650.jpg 436w, https:\/\/www.alsc.ala.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/81qTy8xauRL-768x1145.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.alsc.ala.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/81qTy8xauRL-1030x1536.jpg 1030w, https:\/\/www.alsc.ala.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/81qTy8xauRL-1374x2048.jpg 1374w, https:\/\/www.alsc.ala.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/81qTy8xauRL-335x500.jpg 335w, https:\/\/www.alsc.ala.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/81qTy8xauRL-60x90.jpg 60w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1400px) 100vw, 1400px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-right wp-block-paragraph\">(All images taken by S. Sansbury at the <em>Graphic Novel and Comic Round Table Friday Forum<\/em>)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Sarah Sansbury<\/strong> (she\/her\/hers) is an elementary school teacher-librarian from Atlanta, Georgia. She recently finished her doctorate in school improvement with a focus on how school librarians contribute to student achievement. She is eager to learn how to better partner with local public librarians so that her students can benefit from all the community resources available to them. At the conference, one will most likely find her drinking coffee, no matter the time of day. You can follow her on BlueSky and Instagram: @supersansbury.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>Please note that as a guest post, the views expressed here do not represent the official position of ALA or ALSC.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>If you are interested in submitting a guest post, please read and fill out our&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/airtable.com\/shrqPPooVdsxNlT5K\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Guest Blogging Interest Form<\/a>. We would love to hear from you!<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The science of reading is the focus of curricula throughout the nation. However, student engagement and habitual reading are still essential components that are not talked about enough. Just because our students learn\/know how to read, it doesn\u2019t mean that they will read.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":417,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":"","_members_access_role":[],"_members_access_error":""},"categories":[2952,134,151],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-33390","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-ala-annual-2025","category-guest-blogger","category-live-blogging"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.alsc.ala.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33390","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.alsc.ala.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.alsc.ala.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.alsc.ala.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/417"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.alsc.ala.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=33390"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.alsc.ala.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33390\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.alsc.ala.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=33390"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.alsc.ala.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=33390"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.alsc.ala.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=33390"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}