By Ann Reeser, Library Director at the Albert W. Thompson Memorial Library in Clayton, NM
I still think our library is late in the game for developing a manga collection. I have been the library director for nearly eight years at the Albert W. Thompson Memorial Library in Clayton. I could list a few examples of how our library needed updating and of how the old guard pushed back. Though it was not earth-shattering, the push-backs were probably the opposite of an aligned team and the shock of the then yet-to-be resolved alignment snared my confidence and direction. Being rural and remote is part of our community pride. Our remote physicality means that we have to be intentional about what we seek and what we bring home. We have fewer chance encounters. The manga collection and other updates took on significant meaning to access and freedom to read. I had data of requests for manga, circulation data of the manga volumes collected one at a time. Later, with the help of my library board, I also surveyed general reading interests of the high school students. I had all of the arguments to fulfill the library service and meet the reading interest requests of youth readers and adults as well. I needed to tackle a small manga collection so that our library could move on to the next project.
The Collection Development Plan drafted in 2022 with the aid of my library board, noted manga as a development area and a grant possibly through the New Mexico Library Foundation as a funding source to efficiently build this collection. I chipped away at some of the series with a few boxsets at a time and omnibus volumes with regular book orders. This was a very unsatisfying method for our manga readers who were constantly waiting for the next few volumes to arrive. After rounds of weeding performed under my direction, our library sifted out shelf space for this collection development project. Some of the manga series were being shelved with young adult fiction and others in the science fiction genre shelf. The space was captured by reshelving the manga already collected. The shelves looked pretty pitiful only half full, but it was claimed and became a physical signifier of the manga project as I gained backing for the compulsory collection completion. The Town of Clayton Mayor is a local government representative library board member. He and others knew I was attending the council meeting to get a few good words about the manga project, but it was the worst possible meeting date to attend with my seemingly diminutive library concerns. There were many other pressing topics on the agenda that night. It is my word of warning to seek sanction from the council early so you have the grace of their full attention. I feel that some of my library colleagues out there will think I took a long time to accomplish this goal, but I want to share with honesty how these projects can draw out for small libraries and the footfalls as well.
The New Mexico Library Foundation’s Development Grant is open for submissions in November and April. For better project completion data, I could have applied in November. The manga collection development project would have been completed before the summer and would have paired with the increase in youth visits to the library. I would have likely had greater circulation numbers for the final grant report. The benefit of applying in April and receiving the award notice in May, was that I was able to coordinate with the town manager and treasurer easily for the start of the new fiscal year and the library’s budget. The fall is also better timing for processing new material whereas spring projects are varied and harried including summer planning, end of fiscal year spending and budget requests, and income tax help.
We have gotten great feedback about the manga collection. A point I included in my grant application was about Clayton’s remote location, its distance to any bookstore and how this limits access to a variety of reading options. A young library patron, brought his excitement to the checkout counter and expressed just this point. He said it made him so pleased to get to borrow what he wishes he could buy when he gets to go to a big bookstore. The financial implication of rural living may be inferred here as well. We received compliments just for applying for the grant from our patrons after I published an article in the local newspaper and posted to social media. Not having a natural knack for social media, I have yet to kick the feeling that generating content is like raving into a void or oiling a manic machine. Groundingly, the grant project helped with the library’s visibility: we responded to the request, did our jobs, and had something to share and say.
I am still self-critical to have not completed this project sooner to better meet the requests. I had to define manga and defend comic books more than a couple of times. When comparing circulation of different genres and that of the small manga collection, the information had to be transliterated: the library has had those genre section for years and manga reaches different readers. I couldn’t have guessed what others devalued. My sight is a lot clearer though I’m sure other occlusions will be revealed to me. This is all to say dramatically and with tongue in cheek, that our microcosmic manga collection development project was fully deserving of my attention and I cannot express how pleased I am that our library was awarded the grant through the New Mexico Library Foundation. These projects are more than circulation numbers. These projects are about readers and their access and all of the philosophies of librarianship. The impact of reaching out is beyond door counts. The impact is having community member represented on the shelves, their interests known and appreciated. The grant project was worth the effort to complete the goal to make way for the next.