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Comic Books ¹

Collection Policy Statement Index

I. Scope of this statement

For the purpose of this statement, comic books are periodicals of pictorial fantasy which typically have three elements:

a colorful cover for holding the contents together as a titled magazine;
a story which may or may not be complete in a single issue; and
graphic execution of the story concept in panels. Most, but not all, comic books are in color.

II. General criteria

The Library receives comic books published in the United States under the terms of the Copyright Law. Other titles may be acquired as gifts or exchanges, or may be purchased.

III. Materials to be collected selectively

Titles for the permanent collection are selected according to:

quality, as based on a compelling text effectively married to an equally compelling graphic depiction of the stories;
significance of the artist, writer, or publisher;
originality of the stories, main character(s) or artwork;
depiction of a new trend as shown in the stories, character(s) or artwork;
representation of new ideas, or of social or demographic trends; or
popularity as reflected by national circulation or media attention.
Titles are also selected to assure holdings of examples in new styles or formats as well as those already existing.

Titles selected for the permanent collections of the Library will be maintained and serviced as loose issues in the Serial and Government Publications Division until they are reformatted for archival preservation. Selected titles will also be retained in their original format, based on their significance and value; these original copies will be stored, unbound, in facilities conducive to their preservation and security. Original issues not selected for permanent retention will be discarded after reformatting.

IV. Sampling and exclusions

Translations of American comic books are excluded. Other comic books published in foreign countries are limited to a highly selective sampling, based on impact of the title on a foreign culture or influence on American genres and styles in comic books.

V. Exceptions

None of the foregoing will preclude the acquisition of additional materials for temporary use, for possible selection for the permanent collections, or for possible filming and cataloging as a collection or as separate titles. Individual comic strips are not collected.

(1) Formerly Acquisitions Policy Statement No. 15.

July 1989

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