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17
Posted by Sarah Levin-Lederer on October 17th, 2025
Posted in: Blog
Today’s blog post is a guest spot by Shana Elburn, Library Specialist, River Valley Community College in Claremont, NH. Shana is a member of the R7 Graphic Medicine Community of Interest (COI) that’s open to anyone in R7 interested in graphic medicine.
When the Puksta Library at River Valley Community College (RVCC) first began planning a comics and graphic novels collection, our focus quickly turned toward graphic medicine. This genre, which uses comics to explore the personal and professional dimensions of healthcare, offers unique opportunities for students to engage with complex topics through a highly accessible medium.
In 2023, during Region 7’s focused outreach, I was fortunate to connect with Sarah Levin-Lederer, Outreach and Education Coordinator. Sarah encouraged me to apply for NNLM grant funding to help launch our new collection. At the time, our library was pursuing a different funding opportunity and, when that grant did not materialize, the NNLM application window had already closed.
Fortunately, the story did not end there. A few weeks later, Sarah reached out with a generous offer from NNLM: support to purchase approximately twenty graphic medicine titles of my choosing to kick-start the collection. This unexpected gift gave our library a strong foundation to build our collection upon and demonstrated NNLM’s commitment to increasing access to diverse and meaningful health information resources.
Graphic medicine has become an increasingly important component of healthcare education. By combining visual storytelling with personal narrative, it helps students, practitioners, and patients alike understand experiences of illness, treatment, and caregiving in ways that traditional texts cannot always capture. Research shows that comics can foster empathy, enhance cultural competence, and make difficult or abstract subjects more approachable. For nursing, allied health, and behavioral health students, graphic medicine offers fresh perspectives that can enrich classroom learning and professional practice.
Academic libraries across the country are beginning to recognize the value of this format and are expanding their collections accordingly. Through grants, partnerships, and faculty collaboration, graphic medicine is moving from the margins into mainstream curricula. This growth reflects a broader recognition that information comes in many forms, and that visual narratives are powerful tools for both teaching and learning.
Since receiving NNLM’s support, the Puksta Library at RVCC has expanded our graphic medicine holdings substantially. Faculty have begun integrating these titles into their coursework, using them as supplemental readings to spark discussion, build empathy, and deepen understanding. Students are responding with enthusiasm, and more faculty members are recognizing the format as a legitimate and valuable teaching tool.
What began as a small pilot has grown into an ongoing effort to provide our students and faculty with diverse resources that reflect the full spectrum of human experience in healthcare. NNLM’s generosity not only gave us a starting point but also underscored the importance of building collections that meet learners where they are—and open doors to new ways of understanding.
Our experience at River Valley Community College shows how even a small infusion of support can make a lasting impact. Graphic medicine has quickly become a valued part of our collection and an engaging tool in the classroom.
For libraries interested in exploring graphic medicine, NNLM offers professional development, and expert guidance to help bring these resources to your community. I encourage colleagues to connect with their regional NNLM office, learn more about the possibilities, and consider how graphic medicine might enhance teaching, learning, and healthcare education on their own campuses.
ABOUT Sarah Levin-Lederer