For immediate release | May 13, 2025
Graphic Novels & Comics Round Table celebrates the Mendocino County Library (Covelo, CA) and the Medina County District Library (Medina, OH) as the 2025 recipients of the Will Eisner Graphic Novel Grants for Libraries
The American Library Association’s Graphic Novels & Comics Round Table and the Will and Ann Eisner Family Foundation are pleased to announce the 2025 recipients of Will Eisner Graphic Novel Grants for Libraries. These grants, funded by the Will and Ann Eisner Family Foundation, are administered by ALA's Graphic Novels & Comics Round Table (GNCRT).
The Will Eisner Graphic Novel Grants for Libraries provide support to libraries in two categories – the Innovation Grant awarded to a library who would like to initiate a new graphic novel service, program, or initiative and the Growth Grant awarded to a library that would like to expand their existing graphic novel services and programs.
The 2025 Will Eisner Graphic Novel Growth Grant is awarded to Monica Heath, Julianne Bedel, Catie Taylor and Chris Weaver-Pieh of the Medina County District Library in Medina, OH. Their project “My Journey, My Voice” will allow youth to learn to express their emotions via sequential art and will have the library partnering with the Medina County Juvenile Detention Center, OutSupport, and their local Battered Women's Shelter. This opportunity to create, channel emotion and concern into a physical art form, to see themselves in art of their own making, and to engage with a wider selection of graphic novels will be a huge boon to their community.
The 2025 Will Eisner Graphic Novel Innovation Grant is awarded to The Friends of the Round Valley Public Library and Patricia Sobrero of the Round Valley Branch of the Mendocino County Library in Covelo, CA. Their project “Graphic Adventures: Empowering Young Readers” will have the students engaging with comics and graphic novels to support and elevate reading levels and comprehension. They will work closely with elementary and middle school teachers and classrooms to show the value of graphic novels and how they promote literacy. Their focus on struggling and reluctant readers in a "comics desert" will encourage reading, art, education, and graphic novels, and will be of huge value to their patrons.
Each of these grants award the winning libraries with $2,000 in collection development funds for the purchase of graphic novels, as well as $1,000 to host a graphic novel-themed event. Additionally, the recipients will receive the Will Eisner Library—a graphic novel collection of Will Eisner’s in-print work and biographies about the acclaimed writer and artist—and a selection of this year’s Will Eisner Award winning graphic novels along with a $1,000 travel stipend to attend the 2025 ALA Annual Conference in Philadelphia, PA. The grant recipients will be celebrated at ALA Annual during the 2025 GNCRT Grant Reception and Social on Sunday, June 29, 2025 at 4:00pm ET.
Nancy and Carl Gropper of the Will and Ann Eisner Family Foundation said, “On behalf of the Will and Ann Eisner Family Foundation, we extend our heartfelt congratulations to the creators of the two winning grant proposals; to the Friends of the Round Valley Public Library and to the Medina County District Library. Both offer impactful, highly creative experiences to diverse groups of participants of varying ages, with goals of using graphic novels and sequential art to foster literacy and emotional self-expression. We are always very proud of our partnership with the American Library Association in the awarding of these grants and the beloved librarians across the nation and beyond who the ALA represents. Our thanks to all of the participants.”
“We at the GNCRT are thrilled to again partner with the Will and Ann Eisner Family Foundation to administer the Growth and Innovation grants,” said GNCRT President Shira Pilarski. "Both juries made excellent choices: one library will host an ongoing creative program series working with young people in local carceral facilities and shelters, and one library will move towards graphic novel integration into the schools in their high-poverty, historically low academic achievement area. Both of these projects will hugely benefit their communities."
More information on the grants and the application process can be found at https://www.ala.org/gncrt/eisner
About The Will and Ann Eisner Family Foundation
The Will and Ann Eisner Family Foundation fosters innovation and creativity in graphic literature, sequential art and comics. It encourages others to continue and build upon the legacy of Will Eisner, who broke new ground in the development of visual narrative and the language of comics. Will Eisner is best known for being the creator of The Spirit comic, for developing comics for education and training, and for writing the first modern graphic novel. For more information about Will Eisner visit www.willeisner.com.
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 Facebook: ALA Graphic Novels & Comics Round Table; Twitter: @libcomix; Instagram: @libcomix; or the GNCRT ALA Connect page.
About ALA
Established in 1876, the American Library Association (ALA) is a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization created to provide leadership for the development, promotion, and improvement of library and information services and the profession of librarianship in order to enhance learning and ensure access to information for all.
Contact:
Tina Coleman
GNCRT Staff Liaison
American Library Association
Graphic Novels & Comics Round Table
gncrt@ala.org