Comics for many are the foundation of making reading an important part of their lives.
On Thursday, March 6, Early Giving through Nicholls Give-N-Day will provide students and the community a chance to help the Ellender Memorial Library grow and select its collection of Graphic Novels and Manga. The medium does contribute to people learning to enjoy reading. The National Literacy Trust shows that 58.6 percent of comic readers enjoy reading while only 33.1 percent of people who do not read comics enjoy reading.
“Visual mediums help students build a lifelong love of reading,” said Andrew Barbier, Access Services Librarian and library Give-N-Day lead. “Comics allow for an escape from the many stressors of college life.”
Graphic Novels can be mindless fun, but they can also take on important topics that impact young adults and can help them grow and learn lessons in a less intimidating way than traditional media, such as Maus, Fun Home and Gender Queer. Nicholls’ English Department also has several higher-level courses that study this medium.
Participating in Early Giving can help the library earn more money through Nicholls Foundation challenges beyond what you donate, so it is a good opportunity to support the Library. Challenges often include most total donations, last donation, and farthest donation.
If you want to help the library build the collection and make your donation go further, Early Giving is a good opportunity to help reach the initial funding goal of $2,025, which would purchase about 80 titles.
To kickoff Early Giving, the library will host a 16-hour stream on Twitch, “The Day the Giving Started.” The stream will feature comic-based games, such as Heckboy: Web of Wyrd, Marvel’s Midnight Suns, Lego Batman 2, and Lego Marvel Superheroes. Andrew, graduate student and library volunteer Johnny Shinnaberry and Government Information Librarian Jessica Hawkes will attempt speedruns of some of these games. The stream will feature ways viewers can get involved in Give-N-Day.
The stream and Early Giving will include stretch goals that will be fun for stream viewers but not necessarily fun for the streamers, such as impossible challenges including Andrew having to read all 110 volumes of One Piece in a year and potentially unlocking a 24-hour stream for Give-N-Day on Tuesday, March 18.
“At 110 volumes, finishing One Piece in a year is a very daunting task.,” Barbier said. “Last year, I only was able to finish 39 books.”
To participate in Early Giving, you can donate to Library Director Brandy Burbante’s fundraiser link here. If you want to keep up to date with the library’s plans and goals, follow us on Instagram.
So if you enjoy comics and are a student on a budget, you have wanted to get into manga or comics, or if you just want to help students learn to love to read, Early Giving on March 6 will provide an opportunity to help the library build its collection.
To recommend a graphic novel, fill out this form. The recommendation form for manga is here.
