Historic graphic novels

Graphic novels seem like a new format to many librarians, but the early graphic novels in the U.S. date back at least 80 years. Lynd Ward, the distinguished illustrator of many children's books during the mid-twentieth century published his first graphic novel in 1929. Now the American Library is reprinting several of his books in a boxed set with an introductin by Art Spiegelman. These books don't resemble recent graphic novels very closely. They consist mainly of full page woodcuts, beautifully detailed, and with no words at all. The story is told entirely through pictures--black-and-white pictures at that. If you don't think such a book could hold your interest, you ought to take a look at these. They are remarkably beautiful creations. You probably don't want to order them for the children's collection, but for an adult collection they will be a valuable source for art students, writers, illustrators, and anyone interested in American literary history--or just a good read.

E-books march on

Day after day new reports come out about how e-books are supplanting paper books in many readers' affections. Today the N.Y. Times reports that Barnes & Noble, one of the country's largest booksellers is switching its emphasis toward e-books. With many readers now switching to e-books downloaded from online stores, the standard old-fashioned book stores are desperately worried. Barnes & Noble recently announced it would devote more space in its stores to the Nook, it's e-book reader, and less to bookshelves. The N.Y. Times piece quotes several readers who prefer e-books to print, especially because they are cheaper to buy. One odd thing about the report is that no mention is made of libraries, where books area vailable free. We know that only a tiny percentage of all Americans buy any books at all. Far more use their local library. The switch to e-books will not actually affect the majority of Americans; losing support for libraries would be more damaging. The challenge for librarians is to decide how to make e-books and other online products available to their users. Journals have found viable business plans for moving online while remaining available in libraries, but book publishers do not appear to be thinking about that. Perhaps librarians should take the initiative and suggest possibilities.

one more new format

Librarians aren't used to paying attention to the nuts and bolts of formatting the materials we provide to patrons, but in the digital world we at least have to be aware of changes. The latest Big New Thing is html5, which according to some forcasts in Publisher's Weekly will change e-book publishing forever. Why do we care? Well, if e-books finally do become the majority choice for many books, our collections will have to change. One aspect of e-books that isn't often discussed is the cost of them. Oh yes, they can be cheaper than hardcover books, but very few children or teens ever buy hardcover books. In fact, not many people buy hardcover books any more except for textbooks and Bibles. In recent years many people depend on the library for hardcover books, but are willing to buy paperbacks on their own. But if the public deman shifts to e-books, what will be the economic model for libraries? This is something library leaders should be concerned about and discussing. At every library conference in recent years there have been many discussions about new technology but we should shift our attention to the economics of e-book publishing and make sure that libraries are able to continue to offer patrons free access to the books they want in the formats they want. How will we be able to do that?

Change or die!

Publisher's Weekly reports on one more conference in which publishes wring there hands and wonder what will become of the industry. As e-books sweep more and more of the market, what will traditional editors and print professionals fit in? Not to mention bookstores, which seem the most endangered species of all. There is no agreement on what will come next, how many printed copies of books will be produced or preserved, but everyone is worried. Are librarians worried enough? Perhaps not--especially children's librarians who go happily along planning story hours and choosing picture books. I think it's time to acknowledge that even doting grandparents will eventually surrender to the Kindle and iPad (many are among the early adopters of these handy technological aides to comfortable reading for aging eyes) and future grandkids may be raised on picture books on screens. Librarians had better not be the last people on earth to cling to printed books as the only worthy format. Yes, there are many advantages offered by print on paper, especially for long-lasting books that will survive through many technological shifts. But let's face it--most children's books are as ephemeral as adult bestsellers. Perhaps they are best downloaded electronically, given to as many children as want to read them, and then vanish into thin air (well, maybe one archival copy per library system). When you look at schedules for library conferences for children's librarians, you often seen the same old program titles that have been offered year after year. But the world is changing. Isn't it time that we push our professional organizations into the kind of future probing that the publishing industry is doing? It's time to stop listening to self-congratulatory speeches by yesterday's authors and start paying attention to tomorrow's children.

New forms for books

It's a good thing this is a weekend because all librarians should take some of their extra time to read an insightful blog about book format. Craig Mod, a book designer and writer, discusses the endlessly-debated question of whether the i-Pad and other e-book readers will make printed books obsolete. Instead of merely recounting emotional feelings about print and paper, Mod thoughtfully distinguishes between different kinds of content. The content, after all, he says, should be the determining quality of the book. Much content is formless, it is essentially a flow of words telling a story about something or arguing a point. The author isn't thinking about how the words will look on a page or on a screen, but how the reader will encounter them in his mind. Other contents--poetry, and works with images embedded--are definite content. They cannot be changed in format without losing or confusing some of the meaning. People who present books to the public should think about what kind of content they are dealing with and how it should be presented. Digital or non-digital are lesser questions. Now that the i-Pad is poised to show us how digital content can integrate words and images, it may be possible for formed content to be presented in an e-book. On the other hand, some books are artifacts that should be preserved for their own sake because they are irreplaceable. This article is necessary reading. It will get you thinking. Those of us who have seen some of the book art exhibitions in which content is subordinated to lovely but gimmicky illustrations and format can appreciate Mr. Mod's respect for content. Anyone involved in the content-sharing professions of writing, reading, building a library, or publishing will want to think about what their highest goals should be.

A more digital world

Publisher's Weekly reports on the activities at the Digital Book World conference in New York this week. Publishers recognize that tweens and teens are attracted to online media and books must have a presence there if they are to be successful. Authors have discovered that interacting with fans on a website or on Facebook leads to more sales and the development of a loyal audience. Harper Collins now spends more money on its online marketing efforts than on conventional print marketing. Simon & Schuster redesigned its website and got an increase of more than a thousand percent in teen visits. Surely this report is a wake-up call for librarians to increase their online presence. Although libraries can't spend the money that publishers can, they can put their time and energy into developing a Facebook presence and engaging in other social media. Tweeting and texting about new books is surely more effective than producing paper bookmarks for library distribution. This is no time to follow the habits of the past. Let the kids lead the way to the places they find their news and make the library a part of their world.

Who owns the rights?

An article in the NY Times today discussed a problem that may not at first glance seem related to children's books--the questions of who owns the rights to e-book versions of literary works published before e-books existed. Books by several of the authors who wrote in the mid-twentieth century have slow but steady sales through the years. These sales might grow if the books were available in popular e-book formats, but the heirs of the authors are arguing with publishers about who owns the rights to that format. Producing an e-book from material already available in electronic format is cheap and quite easy. Publishers can earn a lot of money if they sell well, while authors or their heirs get about 25% in royalties. The issue of what a fair royalty payment would be has not been settled, but many publishers have long backlists of titles that would find new sales in e-book format. Children's books often last longer than adult titles and it is likely that as publishers decide to produce them in electronic format, the same issue of rights will come up. Librarians will have to keep on eye on how the legal battles are progressing because unless a reasonable arrangement is reached, children may be denied access to some of the books they could and should be able to enjoy.

Hardcovers gone forever?

An article in the Huffington Post today by a book-publishing insider suggests that while the Kindle and other e-book readers may not kill off all books, they are likely to kill off the hardcover format. Anyone who has been observing the growth of the Kindle market may have noticed the type of people using Kindles. Aside from young people who are encouraged to use them by some schools, Kindle users are often teachers, librarians, publishers, writers and other avid readers. For years many booklovers (and almost all young people) have preferred paperback to hardcover formats because of the convenience and size difference. The Kindle has taken the paperback to a new level of convenience--it is light and portable. Many, if not most, books are read in places other than home. They are read in airports and on airplanes, in hotels, on commuter trains. Their transportability is important, but conventional hardcover books don't recognize that. Paperback books in recent years have been growing bigger and heavier, more like hardcovers, but that's a move in the wrong direction. In a world that prizes portability and convenience, hardcovers may well have lost their place. Publishers beware!

Why is this boy so successful?

You know a children's book series is a success when it's written about not just in the book section, but in the general news sections of newspapers. The phenomenal success of the Wimpy Boy series is attested by the N.Y. Times article about the books. This article appears in the Times's health section and the attention paid is far more psychological than literary. Why is it that a boy who calls himself wimpy turns out to be a hero to so many child readers? Usually the heroes in books for preteen boys are athletic or at least successful in school and in life. Can anyone picture either of the Hardy Boys calling himself wimpy? (Of course the word probably didn't exist when the Hardy boys romped through their adventures.) The Harry Potter books have been a huge success, but they make no attempt to picture the life of real kids in a contemporary world. Perhaps this is why the Wimpy Boy series has reached thousands of kids who think they don't like books. Librarians may not approve, but it's hard to argue with success.

A new pal for Pooh

Children and their parents, and especially grandparents, have enjoyed the Winnie the Pooh stories for many years, but perhaps the major impact of the books has been as a revenue stream for Milne's estate, the Disney Company and manufacturers of Pooh products. Pictures of the familiar characters are available on clothes, bedding, calendars, tableware and other products. Now a new book is being published to take advantage of the interest. It is the first authorized sequel to the Pooh books and offers new stories and new illustrations as well as a new friend for Pooh--an otter. The New York Times article announcing this gives a sample of the illustrations, which seem pleasantly close to the originals. We will be lucky if the author, David Benedictus, captures the original spirit in his writing too. If he does, the children's publishing world may have another blockbuster, that is, if today's children can accept anything other than the Disney version.

Yet another kind of e-book

Publishers are becoming very creative in devising new formats for the products formerly known as books. The latest version reported in the NY Times is being called a "vook" Unlike the standard e-books we've seen on Kindle or Sony readers, this version integrates video clips with the text. The reader can read the book on a printed page and then go to a computer to watch the interspersed videos, or the book can be read entirely online or listened to in an audio version. The key feature is to have some of the scenes presented as video pictures rather than text. It seems likely the next step toward this vision might be on a mobile phone which already has facility to show both text and video. Jumping back and forth between media sounds awkward to a traditional reader, but we have learned to do that when reading newspapers online, so perhaps we could adjust to doing it with books too. No one can predict where this will all lead, but librarians are going to be hard pressed to keep up with the ever-changing media formats patrons might want--and young patrons will probably be among the most eager.

Digital publishing

Publishers Weekly is an indispensable source of information about the book trade. Although aimed at publishers, it is one of the best ways for librarians and teachers to keep up with what's going on in children's publishing. A recent forum on Children's Publishing in the Digital Age offered many insights into the direction publishing may take in the future. One particularly thorny question for children's publishers is what to do about picture books. None of the e-book platforms now available are suitable for picture books, which rely on a marriage of print and graphics. The lack of color in many e-books limits their use for children's books. In recent years picture books have been turned into films and videos, but that changes the impact and emphasis. A film is not a substitute for a book, it's a different entity. No one is sure where e-publishing of children's books will be going in the next few years, but this forum gives us some possible directions to consider.