Written by: Genevieve Hammang
Edited by: Michelle Sosa
The entrance to the SDSU Library.
If you know anything about San Diego, CA, it’s probably as the site of Comic-Con, the hugely popular annual comics convention. But what you might not know is that it is also home to a wider network of comics libraries, museums, and publishers, including the San Diego State University Library (SDSU).
This is where I interned over the summer. More specifically, I worked on comics-related projects for the cataloging department and Special Collections & University Archives (SCUA).
As a comics and graphic novel enthusiast, a lot of my coursework has orbited around librarianship for this medium and its audience. I also knew that I wanted to spend my last summer in the MLIS program interning somewhere I could apply that knowledge and enthusiasm. The SDSU Library ended up being an amazing opportunity for that ambition.
Located on campus about a half hour trolley ride east from where Comic-Con is hosted, the library serves approximately 39,000 students each year, offering about 2.3 million books with 130,000 print and digital copies in circulation. It also houses an incredible comics collection with original single-issue floppies, graphic novels, and zines.
I split my work between two comics-related projects: re-cataloging the non-western comics in circulation for the cataloging department and assisting with collection management of single-issue American comics for SCUA.
Re-cataloging was primarily an online project. I suggested new call numbers, subject headings, and genres for the non-western comics collection using the Library of Congress Classification (LCC). In this context, “non-western” just referred to comics created outside of the U.S., Canada, and western Europe, though there was some overlap. As a newcomer to the LCC, a big part of this was simply learning the basics, but it also involved a lot of research on the titles themselves to make sure my suggestions were accurate.
The need for this project arose from a recent change to how the LCC classifies comics. Previously, all non-western comics had to fit in a single number (PN6790), which became overstuffed and difficult to update. Now, these comics have the full range of PN6715 to PN9682, which is subdivided geographically (an update which my supervisor advocated for!) My goal with this project was to update the call numbers for comics in circulation and in the stacks according to this change.
I worked at a tiny little desk to organize all the floppies in SCUA.
For SCUA, I reshelved material recently pulled from the shelves and processed incoming donations for the comics collection. While SCUA holds a wide variety of materials, from sci-fi novels to 13th century scientific treatises, I worked exclusively with American single-issue comics or “floppies” (so named for the flimsy, cheap material they were historically made from). Nearly all of my time in SCUA was spent at the far-end of the archive, where I pulled boxes of floppies from the shelves to organize at my desk.
Unlike the circulating comics library, floppies are organized alphabetically by series title rather than with the LCC. This is because floppies are created by teams of artists and writers that change regularly, instead of individual creators (as compared to manga). Furthermore, since floppies can’t stand on their own and can’t be read by their spines, SCUA keeps them in file boxes. Practically speaking, most of my time in the stacks was very physical: moving boxes, collating comics, making labels, and so on. I also got to handle every issue myself, which was exciting.
Within a box, series like Archie are separated with spacers to make searching a faster process.
Ultimately, interning at the SDSU Library was an extremely fulfilling opportunity! As good as SJSU’s classes are, it’s hard to beat hands-on experience. While my internship is over, my work with the comics in SCUA will continue through the fall semester.
Although most of SCUA is not in circulation, there is a great selection of comics available digitally! If you’re interested in seeing the first-ever issue of Spider-Man or if you’re curious about just how many vampire comics are really out there, SCUA can help you out.
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