This new collection, which details the current state of comics in libraries, deserves attention. Its chapters cover diverse ground, its writers exude earnestness and enthusiasm, and its research is seminal yet exploratory. Amid the proliferation of introductory and reader's advisory guides and works on comics for literacy and instruction, the present volume is one of just a handful to address comics and librarianship more broadly, with twenty-nine individually authored chapters covering most facets of library work. Editor Robert G. Weiner (Texas Tech University) is no newcomer to the subject matter, having written considerably on it in addition to having worked with comics in both public and academic library settings.

Readers will wish to explore these essays selectively, choosing those that align with their own contexts and interests. Graphic Novels and Comics in Libraries and Archives is certainly not a book to read cover to cover, as its redundancies will appear overwhelming (including nearly two dozen only slightly different takes on the terminology of “graphic novels” versus “comics”). In addition, some chapters seem aimed at novices whereas others at librarians with considerable background knowledge.

Part 1 offers chapters on the history of comics in libraries. Although the first chapter's basic primer and idiosyncratic annotated list offers nothing new, the second chapter provides a full history of Manga in Japanese libraries, an overview for which English readers will be thankful. Amy Kiste Nyberg's “How Librarians Learned to Love the Graphic Novel” employs a literature review construct to neatly summarize the history of U.S. librarian attitudes and activities with regard to comics.

The next four parts discuss comics and graphic novels in particular types of libraries, with seven chapters focused on academic libraries, three on public libraries, two on school libraries (elementary and high school levels), and one on Pennsylvania-related comics in the archival collection of the State Library of Pennsylvania. Some common themes resonate throughout many of these essays, especially issues related to selection, cataloging, and methods of physical placement of graphic novels. Readers often will find differing solutions to similar problems in this volume, affirming the value of local context in one's own decision-making. Yet readers also will note the emergence of some best practices, a profitable thread for subsequent research in this field.

The much larger section on academic library contexts opens with an overview of graphic novels as popular culture collections, offering tips for faculty buy-in, selection, funding, cataloging, and preservation. More focused chapters discuss course reserves, selection, public relations, and special collections. Especially in these chapters, the reader finds the common apologetic tone regarding comics in libraries alongside numerous real-life examples of the use of comics within the disciplines. Gwen Evans's contribution, “The Library after Dark,” gives extended treatment of Bowling Green State University's student–librarian partnership to create a comic book to promote library collections and services, one of several such innovative productions that has excited the library science blogosphere recently. Many readers will turn first to the two chapters on the comic art collection at the Michigan State University (MSU) Libraries, which feature its bibliographer, Randy Scott. In the first article, Scott provides an overview of the collection; the second article is an interview with Scott. MSU's collection is arguably the most significant in academic libraries, and Scott adroitly situates it within the broader national context of comic research collections.

The weakest section of this volume is part 7, “Nomenclature and Aesthetics.” As already mentioned, the nomenclature discussions herein quickly wear thin, offering neither fresh theoretical insights nor strong support for particular practices. Randy Scott, in fact, smartly dismisses the issue thus: “‘Graphic novel’ is the new pretentious word for ‘comic book’” (128). The final chapter of this section should be ignored by all; its authors, a pair of philosophy graduate students, seem not only unversed in library practice but unaware of relevant and comics-related work occurring within their own discipline.

Part 8 collects two brief articles seemingly as an afterthought. The first article on meta-comics, despite its straw-man approach, explains a potentially confusing aspect of comics culture to the uninitiated. The second article covers the highlights of free online comics (“webcomics”) and basic library approaches to managing such content.

A section on cataloging describes the issues and provides practical potential solutions. The last section of the book presents basic studies of Canadian and Association of Research Libraries holdings, the latter perhaps providing a starting point for future, longitudinal study of the penetration of graphic novels into research library collections. Finally, Weiner's three-page afterword recounts his personal history with comics in libraries. This autobiographical account is reflective of broader trends in the field and would be most beneficial if read first.

Full indexing will aid librarians in finding chapters relevant to their interests. Chapters include references, but not suggested readings. Those seeking to track down particular graphic novels discussed in the book may run into difficulties because of frequently misspelled or otherwise incorrect titles. The present volume, read judiciously, will prove quite useful.