Focus on Special Literature: Fotonovelas
How to Bring Fotonovelas Into Your Library
By Robert Logan -- Críticas, 6/1/2002
An updated version of this article appears in our September 15, 2005 issue.
Do you have fotonovelas in your library? If not, why? Perhaps you have heard about fotonovelas but don't know exactly what they are. Perhaps you have heard that they are lurid and demeaning, and that no respectable person would read them or keep them in a library. However, if you live or work in a Spanish-speaking community, you must have seen all kinds of people, young and old, women and men, reading them on the bus or buying them in stores. You may not have thought of them as library materials--and that would be a pity. Fotonovelas, also known as novelas or novelitas, can be a most valuable part of the collection of any public library that serves readers of Spanish. These small paperbacks will increase your circulation and bring a whole new cohort of readers to your library, at a very small financial cost to you. Don't be distracted by people who tell you that they are unsuitable for the library--point to your mission statement. Nearly every public library aims (or should aim) to serve the information, education, and recreation needs of the population it serves. Novelas can help you fulfill that mission, and with them you get a big bang for your buck, too.
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Fotonovelas are small-format comic books in Spanish, with a flimsy paper cover (usually 5' x 5 3/4'). They are printed in either monotone or (sometimes garish) color, and their cost, in the United States, is generally around $1.50 each. The story in each is told by means of illustrated panels with bubble dialog, sometimes supplemented by a line of text to set the scene. Most novelas are about 96 pages long. In Spanish-speaking communities, they can be bought at neighborhood grocery and general stores, beauty parlors, drugstores, gas stations, etc. They have a wide readership among adults, both men and women, and for many recent arrivals in the United States, they are a welcome link with home.
At Houston Public Library we have found that the most convenient method of ordering is to place a standing order with our supplier. Branches order from one to eight packages of novelas per month. (Each package from our supplier includes 22 items and costs $40.) All packages are received at the central library's technical services division, where they are checked in and given minimal processing before being shipped out to the ordering branch. Each item receives an ownership stamp, a pocket, and a barcode to enable us to keep a circulation count.
At the branches, novelas are displayed in dumps, on spinners, or on paperback shelves. Dumps and spinners are best, since novelas' flimsy format is not suitable for regular shelving. The loan period is our standard two weeks, and we do charge fines for late items--other libraries may have different policies. Many branches receive novelas as gifts from their regular customers, who may well be in the habit of exchanging novelas with their friends. We gladly accept these gifts and add them to our collection or sell them in our book sale, if the item's condition is acceptable.
Here Today, Gone Tomorrow
Novelas are the most ephemeral of materials. In practical terms this means that their life is short, and you should think of them as disposable. We have never kept a back-run of fotonovelas, because, frankly, after a dozen circulations they are generally in tatters and are fit only for the recycling bin. As far as I know, no one has ever asked for a back issue. Remember that with a standing order your collection is constantly being replenished, and your patrons will be pleased to have a continuing stream of new items.
Racy Content?
Some librarians who know novelas have told me that they hesitate to include them in their collections because there is a perception that they are pornographic or at least risqué. While it is true that one person's light reading may be another's pornography, I believe that the issue here is one of unfamiliarity with the culture from which novelas come. I really do not think that anyone who is open to cultures other than his or her own could quarrel with the inclusion of novelas in a public library collection where popular demand for them exists. Novelas are foreign to prevailing Anglo culture, but the concept of cover art that promises more than it delivers is scarcely unknown in this country. The garish covers with their full-figured protagonists in ill-fitting clothes are generally the most racy part of the story. The story lines (except perhaps for the historical series) rarely venture beyond the 'girl meets boy/ girl loses boy/girl gets boy back' or 'goodies vs. baddies' situations.
So Many! Which To Buy?
Most fotonovelas appear weekly (some are fortnightly), and each issue is numbered. Each issue is independent, however, and there is no story line to be followed from one issue to the next.
Some series contain insert pages on various topics including health and beauty hints, horoscopes, or personal advice.
At Houston Public Library, the monthly packages we buy are composed mostly of the following series:
- Frontera violenta
- (Violent Frontier)
Western, high adventure, 'cowboys and Indians,' gunplay, romance. (Color, weekly.) - Hombres y héroes
- (Men and Heroes)
Novela biographies of historical personages, such as Jesus Christ, Napoleon, Columbus, or Alexander the Great. (Color, fortnightly.) - Joyas de la literatura
- (The Gems of Literature)
The novela version of a famous work of literature. (Color, fortnightly.) - Libro policíaco
- (Police Book)
Police, crime, terrorism, and adventure, often with an element of romance; also contains horoscopes. (Color, weekly.) - Libro sentimental
- (Sentimental Book)
Romance, sometimes with a religious element. (Monotone, weekly, smaller format.) - Libro vaquero
- (Cowboy Book)
Westerns, romance, rescue of women from precarious situations. (Color, weekly.) - Páginas íntimas
- (Intimate Pages)
Romance, difficult domestic situations; also contains health and beauty hints. (Monotone, weekly, smaller format.) - Rosas y espinas
- (Roses and Thorns)
Romance; also contains pages on other topics, such as crafts. (Monotone, fortnightly, smaller format.)
Although their covers are sometimes lurid, we have found that the series listed above are most acceptable to our patrons. We do avoid some series that seem to emphasize brutality and violence toward women, such as Relatos del Presidio (Prison Chronicles) or Vaqueros Indómitos (Untamed Cowboys). Of course, you should discuss your own guidelines with your vendor, who will work with you to tailor a package that is suitable for your requirements. You can avoid possible problems by not displaying novelas close to the children's area, and you should carefully examine any gift items before placing them on your shelves or in your book sale.
Also, be prepared to educate your non-Hispanic customers and staff. It may not be obvious to them that novelas are appropriate for library use. Until you tell them, they will not know the important place that novelas have in the reading habits of the Spanish-speaking population--for many people novelas are their sole recreational reading and a major escape from their routine activities.
Getting The Word Out
You may have your customary forms of publicity, but good news travels fast in the community, and word of mouth will bring readers to your library. Good signage (in Spanish, of course) helps, too. You will be astonished at the favorable reaction to the arrival of novelas in you library. In the past, some of Houston Public Library's branches were forced to limit the number of novelas each borrower could check out in order to ensure fair shares for all. Luckily, we were able to increase our order, and customers may now check out as many novelas as they wish. Checkouts of 15 to 20 items to a single borrower are commonplace--this has a very positive impact on our circulation statistics!
The most valuable contribution that novelas make to the library is that they bring many people into the building who would not otherwise come, and these readers keep coming back for more. Hopefully, with some encouragement from librarians, one thing leads to another, and novela customers will begin to check out magazines, attend a playgroup or storytime with their children, and maybe take an ESL or citizenship class at the library. Novelas are a familiar and comforting piece of home for new arrivals, and I believe that they are an excellent means of introducing these new arrivals to all the possibilities that the library can offer them as they become established in their new surroundings.
Logan is acting manager of the Meyer branch of the Houston Public Library. He is a member of Houston Public Library's Spanish-Language Materials Selection committee (SLAMS).
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