The Newbie Dispatches are a series of podcasts recorded exclusively by the Residency Interest Group on a variety of topics of interest to current and former library residents, current library science students, new graduates, and early career librarians. In Episode V of this series, we are discussing graphic novel reading groups with Bonnie Brzozowski, Reference Librarian at Faulk Central Library, the downtown branch of the Austin Public Library System in Austin, TX.
It is her first professional librarian job out of library school. She received her Master of Science in Library Science from the School of Information and Library Science at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 2007. She has been leading book clubs for over 3 years beginning with a contemporary fiction book club in Carrboro, NC, and, now, a graphic novels book club in Austin, TX.
Highlights of this cast include: starting a new book club, securing money and meeting space, marketing the club, and challenges and benefits of graphic novel reading groups.
Bonnie was also kind enough to provide us with a sample list of discussion questions (PDF), a list of websites for graphic novels book clubs (PDF), and a graphic novels bibliography (PDF) of materials she has used to help her with her graphic novels reading group.
Be sure to check back regularly for future casts on conference updates, research in progress, and professional development workshops.
We hope you find it useful. —Megan and Kiyomi
Don’t forget: suggestions for podcast topics are accepted and most welcome. Feel free to use the comment page to send us your request.