Graphic Novels & Comics Round Table Announces 2025 Comics Librarian Conference Travel Grant Recipients

The American Library Association's Graphic Novels & Comics Round Table (GNCRT) is excited to announce two winners of the 2025 GNCRT Comics Librarian Conference Travel Grants: Sara Freeman has been awarded the 2025 Oni Press GNCRT School Librarian Conference Travel Grant and Maria Vega has been awarded the 2025 Skybound Entertainment GNCRT Conference Travel Grant.

Sara Freeman is an enthusiastic international school librarian and SJSU MLS student currently living in Indonesia. She enjoys working with children from different countries and loves the impact comics have on the confidence and literacy growth of students, particularly those whose first language isn’t English. Sara’s library specialties are programming and collection development, of which representation and diversity are at the forefront of her efforts. She is determined for all students to feel represented in their library books, and volunteers for Diverse BookFinder to improve her abilities in these areas. Sara is ecstatic about being chosen as a recipient of a GNCRT Comics Librarian Conference Travel Grant and attending the ALA Annual Conference, exclaiming “Thank you to the jury for selecting me for the Oni Press School Librarian Travel Grant! I want to contribute to the ongoing conversation about the importance of comics in education—because reading comics is reading. Attending the ALA Conference and GNCRT panels will provide me with access to countless resources that will help enrich the students and community I serve."

María Vega (she/ella) is the Assistant Manager/Librarian Senior at the Hollywood Branch of the Broward County Library and the President of REFORMA de Florida. María recently served as the Co-Chair for the GNCRT and REFORMA’s Collaboration Core List of the best Latinx graphic novels and is currently Co-Chair of the Addressing Comics Censorship Committee. She is passionate about connecting children, teens, and their caregivers with graphic novels and loves the fact that graphic novels can make books accessible to English learners and reluctant readers. “This grant is giving me the opportunity to collaborate with and learn from librarians, publishers, and creators who are working to keep putting graphic novels into the hands of readers, especially in this challenging time. I can’t wait to learn and share strategies and best practices for promoting these books, programming with graphic novels, and showing the public the value of not only graphic novels but libraries as a whole.”

The GNCRT Comics Librarian Conference Travel Grant provides reimbursement funds of up to $3,000 for each recipient toward their attendance at the upcoming 2025 ALA Annual Conference in Philadelphia. Additionally, GNCRT will provide opportunities for the grant winners to participate in sessions and network with comics publishers and their fellow GNCRT members.

Funding for this year’s grants was provided by generous donations from graphic novel publishers Oni Press; Skybound Entertainment, which provided essential funds and support to establish the grant in its first year; and Scholastic. Established in 2023, the GNCRT Comics Librarian Conference Travel Grant offers support for the professional development of library workers interested in expanding their knowledge and experience with comics collections and programming in libraries.

"In our often tumultuous world, libraries offer a safe space to explore, learn, find joy, and be who we are. Their importance is something that we at Oni Press have long celebrated and cherished," said Katie Sainz, Oni Press Director of Sales, Book Market. "Librarians were some of the first to welcome comics as equals on the shelf, and it’s our great honor to be able to give back through the ALA GNCRT Travel Grant to help support the next wave of comics librarianship."

“Supporting the growth of graphic novel readership has been a core value of Skybound from day one and librarians are some of our most incredible partners nationwide in bringing new readers to this artform we all love,” said Arune Singh, Skybound Entertainment VP – Brand, Editorial. “It's our honor to once again sponsor the GNCRT in their mission to bring deserving librarians to the ALA Annual Conference. This event is one of the most prestigious and important opportunities for publishers, librarians, and creators to come together in that mission to support creative expression and protect free speech as the comic book medium continues to grow.”

About the Graphic Novels and Comics Round Table

The Graphic Novels and Comics Round Table of the American Library Association is dedicated to supporting library staff in all aspects of engaging with graphic novels and comics, including collection development, programming, and advocacy. For more information, connect with GNCRT on Discord; X: @libcomix; Instagram: @libcomix; Bluesky: @libcomix.bsky.social or the GNCRT ALA Connect page. To contribute to the GNCRT Comics Librarian Conference Travel Grant, please visit https://ec.ala.org/donate/projects (select Round Tables from the top of the page, then GNCRT from the list on the left).

About Oni Press

Founded in 1997, Oni Press has a 25-year history as one of the industry’s most respected and acclaimed publishers of award-winning comic books and graphic novels with titles including Bryan Lee O'Malley's Scott Pilgrim, K. O’Neill’s Tea Dragon Society, Cullen Bunn & Brian Hurtt's The Sixth Gun, Maia Kobabe's Gender Queer, Ezra Claytan Daniels' Upgrade Soul, Brenna Thummler’s Sheets trilogy, and many hundreds more. In 2019, Oni Press merged with Lion Forge Comics – the Eisner Award-winning independent comic book publisher founded by Academy Award-winning producer and entrepreneur David Steward II – to create one of the largest, independent libraries of comics content anywhere in media. The Oni-Lion Forge Publishing Group now exists as a publishing subsidiary of Steward’s diversified global media company, Polarity.

The Oni-Lion Forge Publishing Group publishes more than 60 original and licensed graphic novels annually, in addition to an extensive list of periodical comics.

About Skybound Entertainment

We do things differently here. Skybound is the creator-driven, fan-focused company behind landmark global franchises like The Walking Dead, Invincible, Impact Winter and hundreds more IPs that are redefining entertainment through our Wheel of Awesome business model. Skybound unlocks the unique opportunity to cultivate all aspects of a franchise from development through distribution; our IP connects with audiences through groundbreaking stories told on a grand scale. We empower our creators to directly expand their IP and turn their ideas into movies, TV shows, tabletop games, comics, podcasts, collectibles, video games, or all of the above and then some.

Skybound publishes award-winning and bestselling comics series such as Invincible, The Walking Dead, Stillwater and Ultramega, among others. Skybound's commitment to partnering with top industry talent and giving an elevated platform to diverse and unique voices has resulted in a record-breaking run on Kickstarter, where we launched mega-successful campaigns for Ava’s Demon, Extra Fabulous, and G.I. JOE: A Real American Hero — the most funded comic book campaign in Kickstarter’s history. Skybound Comet, our young readers graphic novel imprint, released the Clementine (set in The Walking Dead universe) series to great critical and commercial success. Skybound is also a savvy and sought-after licensing partner, working with companies including LEGO, Universal Products & Experiences and Hasbro to publish comics for their most coveted properties. Skybound’s Energon Universe series is Hasbro’s biggest comics launch of all time, with TRANSFORMERS #1 becoming the bestselling comic of 2023.

Skybound doesn’t just make global franchises, we change the way that global franchises can be made.

Follow Skybound on X (@Skybound), YouTube (Skybound), Facebook (@SkyboundEntertainment), Instagram (@skyboundent), Blue Sky (@skybound.bsky.social), Discord (Skybound), Reddit (Skybound), and at www.skybound.com.  

About the American Library Association

The American Library Association (ALA) is the only non-partisan, nonprofit organization dedicated entirely to America's libraries and library professionals. For almost 150 years, ALA has provided resources to inspire library and information professionals to transform their communities through essential programs and services. The ALA serves academic, public, school, government, and special libraries, advocating for the profession and the library's role in enhancing learning and ensuring access to information for all. For more information, visit www.ala.org.