Graphic Novels, Libraries, and Driver's Seats

Just a quick quote for all of those people who have been complaining -- I've seen at least a few, on message boards and comments, so there's probably more -- that the library market is shoving the graphic novel field in the direction of memoirs and books for kids:

Bookstores generated $265 million in sales in 2008 compared to about $165 million in sales through the comics shop market (also known as the direct market). Libraries represent about $25 million in sales.

From ICv2's annual Graphic Novel Conference this week, as reported by Publishers Weekly.

Just in case those people bad at critical thinking are also bad at math, I'll reiterate: bookstore sales are ten times the volume of library sales. Libraries are, at best, the cart in this particular relationship -- actually, if you include the comics direct market, they're more like a dog tied to the back bumper of this wagon.