Eisner Graphic Novel Grant for Libraries - Growth Grant

About the Will Eisner Graphic Novel Grant for Libraries - Growth Grant The Will Eisner Graphic Novel Growth Grant will provide support to a library that would like to expand its existing graphic novel services and programs. This grant will encourage public awareness on the rise and importance of graphic literature, sequential art, and comics as a literary medium.  The objective of the Will Eisner Graphic Novel Grants for Libraries is to facilitate library-generated programs and services that will promote graphic novels to library patrons and to the local community.Will Eisner (1917-2005) was an acclaimed American comics writer, artist, teacher, and entrepreneur.  He is considered one of the most important contributors to the development of sequential art (a term he coined) and is known for the cartooning studio he founded; for his highly influential comic series, The Spirit; for his use of comics as an instructional medium; for his leading role in establishing the graphic novel as a form of literature with his 1978 groundbreaking graphic novel, A Contract with God and Other Tenement Stories; for his 20 years of teaching at the School of Visual Arts, leading to his three textbooks. In a career that spanned nearly seven decades—from the dawn of the comic book to the advent of digital comics—Will Eisner was truly the “Father of the Graphic Novel.”

Administered by:

Graphic Novels and Comics Round Table (GNCRT) logo

2023 Recipient(s)

Molly Ouellette and Barb Riebe of Billings Public Library in Billings, MT. − Their project "Made in Montana Graphic Novel Series" will expand their existing teen and adult graphic novel collections with a focus on local creators and diverse creators and stories, as well as working with local partner organizations on comics programming for young people from underserved communities or experiencing hardship.

Micah Rademacher of Blue Island Public Library in Blue Island, IL. ─ Their project "Nos Vemos en los Cómics" features plans to add more Spanish-language titles and graphic novels by Latin American creators and create bilingual workshops and events focused on comics.