This is a new project of the Comics and Visual Culture Centre, which was opened in 2010. Thanks to RSLYA's support, public and specialized libraries all over the country are becoming seriously involved with visual storytelling. The Centre provides services, develops methodologies, and publishes magazines and books.
RSLYA is developing new approaches to serving young adults and promoting visual culture. At the National Centre for Visual Storytelling and Images, we encourage young people to read comics, reinvent collection development, and redefine the collection's thematic profile. We have over 4000 volumes of comics and manga by Russian and foreign authors in our collection.
The Centre hosts clubs meetings and workshops by professional artists, where young people can learn to create their own stories — from the first sketches of the characters to the publication. We invite guests who talk about the topics that interest our visitors. Club meetings turn the library into a place where you can learn something new, start and complete your own comics project, and meet people who share your interests.
The use of comics as a tool for teaching, socialization and social adaptation is being enthusiastically explored by libraries around the world, and the Centre follows other countries' best practices and introduces them to both readers and librarians.
We support other Russian libraries in a variety of ways: we consult librarians on developing a comics collection, organize events (including interregional events) and clubs based on young people's interest in comics and manga, create special comics spaces in libraries. The Centre organizes exhibitions in libraries; our staff speak at regional seminars and conferences.
We have hosted a seminar called «Working with visual storytelling to promote young people's reading» and took part in the Inter-library methodological webinar «Successful library programmes for young people».
The National Centre for Visual Storytelling and Images has its own website: . Useful materials for librarians are published in the section called «For professionals».
Every year the Centre publishes a collection of comic strips and articles called Isotext aimed at both ordinary readers and library professionals.
The Centre organizes KomMissia, the biggest comics festival in Russia, and the National competition «Hero of my family, hero of my country».
Head:
Mr. Aleksandr Kunin
Contact:
+7 (499) 161-32-19
kunin@rgub.ru
