Week 13 Prompt: YA, NA, GN Genres

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I'm a firm believer that we should provide access to these genres as well as the more "legitimate" genres. There are so many people that, even into adulthood, don't enjoy reading because of some reason or another---we shouldn't be limiting these people just based on what others deem appropriate. Ranganthan's 2nd law even says, "Every reader his (or her) book." If there's a reader who wants to read these genres, why on Earth would we stop them?

The YA book club that I went to last month is held with this express purpose--Adults who read YA. No matter the reason, there is a demographic that needs to be served. There are award-winning titles in these genres that we only need take one look at and we can understand the literary merit of their titles. Look at Maus by Art Spiegelman in the graphic novels, or The Book Thief by Marcus Zusak in YA. Two very different books dealing with historical subject matter that is able to introduce the Holocaust and Nazi Germany to different audiences and demographics.

Ranganthan's 5th law says that the library is a growing organism, and this also reflects our growing need to market materials to the demographics which would enjoy these genres. We have to grow with our user base, and if the user base is demanding these genres, then we would be remiss to ignore them.

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