In dream library world, planning would probably be Step 1 in building a graphic novel collection.  But in real library world, I didn’t make a plan for how to define, collect, catalog, process, and shelve graphic novels.  I just started buying them.

As I’ve blithely added materials to my graphic-novel-and-nonfiction collection, I’ve run into all kinds of interesting questions: If I shelve my graphic novels by author, am I devaluing the role of artists?  If I have a graphic adaptation of a novel, like Stephen King’s Dark Tower series, do I shelve it under the name of the adaptor, or the original author?  Can I make a meaningful distinction between superhero comic books and other graphic novels?  If I do make that distinction, where do I put series about heroes without superpowers?  And don’t even get me started on nonfiction. (more…)