How to Join
You can join the GNCRT when you join ALA or if you're already and ALA member you can add GNCRT membership at any time and you’ll be charged a prorated fee based on your ALA renewal date. Membership fees are:
- Personal, $15
- Student $5
Publishers, non-profits, libraries, and other institutions are also welcome to join:
- Corporate/Organizational $30
Why Join
It's fun! You can connect/network with library staff, educators, and publishers interested in graphic novels and comics, as well as serve on one of our many committees:
- ALA Conference Committee
- Communications Committees
- Discord Community
- Membership
- Newsletter
- Social Media
- Website
- Convention Committee
- Creators Get Carded Committee
- Libcomix Online Committee
- Mentorship Committee
- Metadata and Cataloging
- Preparing for and Addressing Comic Book Bans, Censorship and Challenges Committee
- Selection Lists and Juries
- Best Graphic Novels for Adults Selection Committee
- Best Graphic Novels for Children Selection Committee
- Collaboration Core List Committee
- Will Eisner Graphic Novel Growth Grants for Libraries
- Will Eisner Graphic Novel Innovation Grants for Libraries
Through these committees you will have the opportunity to create resources needed to support and promote graphic novels and comics in libraries, develop programming and create pop-up libraries at comic conventions and library conferences, administer the Will Eisner Graphic Novel Grants for Libraries, and provide networking opportunities for library staff and educators. Learn more about our committee at the GNCRT FAQ page.
Member Resources
Currently we are curating and creating resources for collection development, best practices, and programming. They will include access to information to help educate gatekeepers about the benefits of comics and graphic novels, as well as resources to help with challenges to materials.
Awards
We manage the Will Eisner Graphic Novel Innovation and Growth Grants for Libraries. We are investigating the possibility of creating a new graphic novel award to be administered by our round table.
Collaboration
GNCRT members act as advisors to publishers about library issues and represent a library point of view on publisher panels at comic conventions. We hope to offer mentorship and professional development opportunities for ALA members.
Through our collaboration with conference and convention producers, GNCRT has a presence at:
- New York Comic Con (NYCC)
- ALA Midwinter Meeting
- Chicago Comic & Entertainment Expo (C2E2)
- WonderCon
- ALA Annual Conference
- Comic-Con International: San Diego (SDCC)
We also support members who represent GNCRT at local comic conventions and local library or academic conferences with the help of regional representatives of the Conference Planning Committee, the Convention Planning Committee, and the Membership and Outreach Committee.
Professional Development Opportunities
In addition to ALA Conference and Convention programming, we coordinate with comic publishers and other branches of ALA for webinars covering a variety of topics. We hope to offer even more professional development events in the future. At some comic conventions we have been able to arrange for Continuing Education credits for attendees. We hope to do more of this in the future.
We have an active discussion/social network on ALA Connect, but do not currently have publishing opportunities. You can join our open community on ALA Connect without being an ALA member and find us on social media to learn more about GNCRT and comic and graphic novel-related events and programming:
Facebook
Twitter: @libcomix
Instagram: @libcomix
Contact Us
Questions and ideas are welcome! You can post them to the GNCRT ALA Connect page or email them to gncrt@ala.org.