As part of the #GraphicMedLibs panel for the August 5, 2020 NNLM NER webinar on Graphic Medicine, PF Anderson discussed awareness of #OwnVoices issues in both comics creation and collections, along with strategies and tools to utilize the #OwnVoices movement in the creation of community and awareness of social justice themes in #GraphicMedicine. This presentation represents the work of PF Anderson (UM-THL) with collaborators Claire Myers (UMSI), Gina Genova (UMSI), Susan Brown (Ypsilanti District Library), and David Carter (UM-AAEL).

1. #OwnVoices in
Graphic Medicine:
PF Anderson, MILS
University of Michigan — Ann Arbor
@pfanderson
Creation and Collection

2. #OwnVoices - What is it? How does it work?
“#ownvoices, to recommend kidlit
about diverse characters written by
authors from that same diverse
group.”
<https://twitter.com/corinneduyvis/
status/640584099208503296>
“When voices on the internet become
so loud and so vitriolic that
artists are afraid to experiment
and make mistakes, something very
dangerous is happening in our
society.” Artists Mustn't Fear the
Social Media Call-Out Culture |
Nora Raleigh Baskin |
TEDxTheBenjaminSchool
<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=27
7RUJks-Kk>

3. #OwnVoices, Part 1
Authenticity
Research
Collaboration
????
Part 2: Who tells the story?
Storyboard by PF Anderson

4. Part 3: Who draws the art? Part 4: Who decides?
Art by Elisa Wescom http://bit.ly/JACRcomic1

5. #OwnVoices - How do we KNOW?

6. Part 5: Who publishes it?
● Pre-2015 (12)
○ Small press
○ Imprints/
Labels
○ Major press
● 2015-2020 (38)
○ >90% from
alternative
presses,
indie pubs,
self-
published
● Self-Published (KPD Print,
Lulu, etc.)
● Crowdfunded (Kickstarter,
Indiegogo)
● Amazon, comiXology
Guest Blog Post: How Libraries Choose
Books to Purchase, by Abigail Goben
(a.k.a Hedgehog Librarian). Science
Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America,
April 23, 2010.
<https://www.sfwa.org/2010/04/23/guest-bl
og-post-how-libraries-choose-books-to-pur
Part 6: Who buys it/funds it?

7. Part 7: Libraries?
Library of Congress Collections
Policy Statements, Supplementary
Guidelines: Independently Published
and Self-Published Textual
Materials. February 2018.
<https://www.loc.gov/acq/devpol/sel
fpub.pdf>
● Health Concern/Social
Issue
● Age/Audience
● Content warnings
● Perspective
● Social Determinants of
Health
● SDoH types
● Diversity/
Representation
● Own Voices
Part 8: Questions to answer