Holy Graphic Novel, Library Man: Literacy Through Comics

Celebrating Hispanic & Latinx Heritage Month

This project is a part of the Hispanic & Latinx Heritage Month celebration because it supports a Latino teacher or a school where the majority of students are Latino.

"I hate reading, I hate school, I'll never go to college, so what's the big deal?" "Shazam." "What?" "Shazam." "What's that supposed to mean?" "I've got something for you." "What?" "You ever go to movies, you know, like Wolverine, X-Men, Spiderman or watch cartoons as a kid?" "Yeah." "Follow me. By the way, did I ever tell you that I was the first person in my family to go to college? Yeah, I didn't want to dig ditches like my dad did for 50 years. Ah, here ya go. Check this out." "But, Mr. . . ." "Go on. Give it a taste."

This conversation between a large number of our 1657 students and me isn't uncommon in our high school, situated in a rural district in southwestern Idaho. Over 80% of the students receive free or reduced lunch, and fewer than 20% of graduates will remain in college after their first year. Although any number of issues may affect the success of our students, lack of reading achievement remains a primary factor in impacting a student's success. Graphic novels provide many of our students with the motivation to pick up a book in the first place. Unfortunately, my library collection of graphic novels is small, and given that my budget was cut in half last year and that this year I still await hearing of any dollar amount I may receive from administration given the economic climate, title choices within the genre continue to flounder. Meanwhile, students continue to float belly-up under inclement conditions.

I am not presuming that graphic novels are the gateway to passing college entrance exams or spurring a large population of underachievers to success. However, I do know that it's a challenge to keep the books on the shelves; students check them out all of the time. Indeed, graphic novels do assist poor readers, connect with visual learners, develop strong language arts skills, encourage unmotivated and "dormant" readers, convey educational messages, and stimulate readers to explore other literature (University at Buffalo-New York). In addition, as Schwarz notes in the Journal of Adolescent and Adult Literacy, "An important benefit of graphic novels is that they present alternative views of culture, history, and human life in general in accessible ways, giving voice to minorities [our Hispanic population accounts for 54% of the student body] and those with diverse viewpoints." From fiction to non-fiction, from biography to social studies, from art to science, how can graphic novels not impact students positively? Not only do graphic novels constitute "real reading," but they promote metacognition; both sides of the brain are utilized when it comes to the graphic novel.

Your support of this project will potentially impact all students who enter the library to check out a book. Your support will increase the graphic novel collection whereby nearly each student in Mrs. D's English classes will be able to fulfill her graphic novel reading assignment. Your support will not only influence the reluctant reader but impact the reading climate for the college-bound with titles such as Auschwitz, Beowulf, and Julius Caesar. Your donation will help whisk our students "Up, up, and away."