Manga is simultaneously incredibly popular and completely unknown depending on where you look, how has Manga’s popularity evolved over time in your library?

I think the popularity has always been there and it’s only gotten stronger. When I arrived at Glenthorne in 2013, there was no manga in the library. When I asked students which books they wanted me to purchase, manga was the strongest response by far. In 2013 I also started our weekly manga club. It has been running every Thursday at lunch for over 10 years and consistently has between 35-50 students attend. We now have over 1,000 manga in the library and it is our most popular area of the room. I now see manga being made around popular games like Animal Crossing, Minecraft and Zelda, making it even more popular with younger students.

What would you suggest to librarians who don’t know it well but appreciate its popularity so want to get some for their libraries?

I wouldn’t worry about getting every volume in. Some manga series have hundreds of volumes and it’s not feasible for libraries to purchase them all. Start small and start a club if you can, you’ll probably find that you’ll have several different age groups coming together to discuss manga and take part in activities. Ask the students what they want to have in and at the same time, check the age ratings. Most manga have recommend age ratings on the back, some manga appear to be aimed at a young audience visually on the cover but they might be aimed at ages 18+. Read a few manga yourself, get a sense of it, ask yourself if it’s a good fit for your students, and go from there.

You also host a Manga Club, what does that involve and would you recommend it to other school librarians?

Our Manga Club has been a cornerstone of the library’s programmes for over 10 years. As we have ages ranging from 11-17 attending, it’s not possible to have a traditional “book club” approach. Therefore the club consists of crafts around manga, games, quizzes and art-based activities. I definitely recommend it, you can start by having a few quizzes – we make bookmarks out of the manga that has fallen apart over the years and we use these bookmarks as prizes for the quiz winners. It’s fun, easy and extremely popular.

You’re hosting a Manga Mania quiz for secondary students on October 15^th – what will that involve and how can people sign up?

Our Manga Mania quiz is an online quiz open to any school in the UK and Ireland. It will involve 50 questions based on popular manga and will include images, emojis, multiple choice questions and a lot more. We have loads of prizes for the winning school and certificates for everyone who has signed up. To sign up, schools can simply email me at lml@glenthorne.sutton.sch.uk.

Finally, what’s the best bit, the worst bit and a random rest bit (not positive or negative just an interesting piece of information) about including Manga in your school library?

The best bit about including Manga in our school library is seeing the enthusiasm the students have for it. To see them rushing in at break and lunchtime to sit and read and take part in our Manga activities is very heartening and enjoy discussing it with them. I suppose the worst bit would be how expensive it can be to replace or purchase new titles, especially with budgets the way they are. A random bit would be how many teachers, both young and old, enjoy manga and anime and will borrow them from the library!

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Many thanks to Lucas for sharing his insight into Manga in the Secondary Library.  Do get in touch with him if you would like to join the quiz on October 15th!  There will be prizes for first, second and third and certificates for every school that enters.