New readers are literally born every day, and they eventually become new students and new patrons, eager to be introduced to and guided through the vast world of reading options at their public and school libraries. The backlist of great titles they get to discover grows larger every year, too.
We’re looking forward to our favorite event of the year, once again proudly sponsoring Library Journal and School Library Journal’s LibraryCon Live! on Thursday, November 14, 2024. The free virtual event celebrates its 10th anniversary with a full day of programming featuring comics and manga, and is an excellent opportunity to expand your readers’ advisory recommendations.
A collection dominated by bestsellers is one that prioritizes a small percentage of the newest releases for a small percentage of a library’s potential readers. Even worse, thanks to restrictive licenses, bestsellers can end up dominating an inordinate percentage of a library’s budget, while under-serving readers with other interests.
Over the past year, we’ve found that a few key factors help drive discovery and circulation in Comics Plus beyond pre-existing consumer awareness of popular franchises and creators, most of which publishers can influence with robust metadata aligned with industry standards, complemented by targeted marketing efforts and equitable access.
Reinforcing our belief that there’s more to comics than Dog Man and superheroes, memoir, LGBTQ, and manga were the most engaged categories in Comics Plus, driven by popular titles like Dark Horse’s Avatar: The Last Airbender and The Legend of Korra, and IDW’s They Called Us Enemy. Titles in those categories were checked out more than three times the average during the first quarter of 2021.
We curate high-interest, immersive digital content that helps schools and libraries expand and diversify their collections—without breaking their materials budgets.
Give your readers unlimited, simultaneous access to a diverse collection of digital comics, graphic novels, and manga from dozens of library-friendly publishers.
