PHOTO: The Victoria Public Library has a wide selection of juvenile graphic novels.
As a former school librarian, Victoria Public Library Assistant Director Katrine Villela remembers sending schoolkids to the public library if the school library was low on graphic novels—which happened often, given the popularity of the format among young readers.
“It was hard to keep them on shelves,” Villela said.
Victoria Public Library patrons will have even more titles to choose from after the Victoria Public Library received a $2,500 Texas Library Grant from the Texas Book Festival and the Texas Library Association to purchase more than 200 juvenile graphic novels.
Some of the series included in the grant-funded purchase are:
- “Dog Man,” a series that is in high demand among young library patrons
- “I Survived,” a historical series
- “Zips and Eeloo,” which features dyslexia-friendly font
- Popular franchises such as Garfield, Disney, Animal Crossing and Minecraft
“The Victoria Public Library is committed to providing excellent resources that inspire a love of reading and support the educational growth of our community’s youth,” Villela said. “We extend our sincere gratitude to the Texas Book Festival and Texas Library Association for their support of the Victoria Public Library and our mission to support lifelong literacy.”
Librarian MariaLuisa Rodriguez explained that graphic novels can play an important role in childhood literacy.
“The combination of images and text can help kids build their ability to make inferences and identify social/emotional cues,” Rodriguez said. “The ease of wording and spacing also helps with building vocabulary and reading comprehension, especially for early readers who are not ready for full books yet.”
To learn more about Victoria Public Library programs and services, visit www.victoriatx.gov/library or follow Victoria Public Library on Facebook.