Glass City Black Comix Fest (#GCBC)
Toledo-Lucas County Public Library, Ohio
Innovation Synopsis
Glass City Black Comix Fest brings together Black comic artists, youth, parents and educators for one-on-one experiences during workshops, book-signing tables and Q&A sessions aimed at teaching our community how to create comics, use them as an entry-point for reading and incorporate them into the classroom.
Challenge/Opportunity
GCBC draws people from all walks of life and invites them to take a look at art and comics from an underrepresented group. Just six percent of children’s book authors published in 2016 were Black, Latinx or Native.
GCBC lets our community know what is possible in this field. We gain strength in knowing that there are Black authors successfully creating and learning about comics that are not represented in mainstream media.
Key Elements of Innovation
GCBC is not just about comics; it’s about connecting our community to under-represented artists, celebrating those artists, tying in the library collection by using the proper staff and resources and making the act of learning to read and write fun! We partnered with artists and community members that are excited about celebrating Black comic book creators and sharing that passion with youth, parents and educators.
Achieved Outcomes
In 2018, GCBC strengthened our community when over 300 customers came to:
- Celebrate and support Black comic book creators from around the world in their effort to tell compelling, uplifting and fantastic stories
- Help young people tell their own stories within the comic book medium
- Introduce reading and literacy in a way that's fun, interactive and exciting
At GCBC everyone is an artist, and our artists are our heroes.
