Graphic Novels Library Malta (GNLM) Annual Report 2014

GRAPHIC NOVELS LIBRARY MALTA ANNUAL REPORT 2014

Table of Contents 1.EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

4

AIMS

6

MISSION STATEMENT

6

DESCRIPTION:

6

2.GNLM REPORT ON THE SUMMER SCHOOLS PILOT PROJECT - (JULY-SEPTEMBER 2014)

8

PLAN

8

CONTEXT

9

PARTICIPATING SUMMER SCHOOLS/CLUBS

10

PARTICIPATING VOLUNTEERS

11

SUGGESTIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS FOR FUTURE SIMILAR ACTIVITIES

12

3.YOUTH MEET YOUTH NGO FAIR - (JULY 2014)

13

4.FRESHER'S WEEK DEBATE - (END OF SEPTEMBER 2014)

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5.BATMAN AND COMICS IN ACADEMIA: AN EXHIBITION HIGHLIGHTING THE IMPORTANCE OF GRAPHIC NOVELS AS A TOOL IN LITERACY - (NOVEMBER 2014) 15 6.MALTA COMICS EXPO - (END OF OCTOBER 2014)

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7.COMIC CON 2014 - (END OF NOVEMBER 2014)

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8.V FOR VENDETTA EVENT – (NOVEMBER 2014)

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9.LIBRARY DAY: COMICS AT THE CPL - (DECEMBER 2014)

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10.BATMAN 75 YEARS CELEBRATION WORKSHOPS + LEGENDS OF THE KNIGHT (FOR SECONDARY SCHOOLS) - (DECEMBER 2014)

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11.MALIA INFORMATION MANAGEMENT PROFESSIONAL AWARD – ADVANCEMENT IN EDUCATION AND LITERACY - (DECEMBER 2014)

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12.GNLM – FUTURE PROJECTS

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GHAXAQ LOCAL COUNCIL – COMICS BOOK COLLABORATION

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DIGITAL COMICS MAGAZINE – AUDRIENNE DEGIORGIO

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MALTESE GRAPHIC NOVELS AND COMICS BIBLIOGRAPHY – DANIELA ATTARD

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PUBLISHING AND DISTRIBUTION NETWORK

25

PUBLICATION – ICARUS BY SAMUEL MALLIA

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COMICS BOOK APPRECIATION CLASSES

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13.FINANCIAL ACCOUNTS YEAR 2014

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14. FINAL REMARKS

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15. THE YEAR IN PICTURES

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SUMMER SCHOOL PILOT PROJECT : JULY TO SEPTEMBER 2014

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YOUTH FOR YOUTH PARTICIPATION: JULY 2014

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FRESHER’S WEEK DEBATE: END OF SEPTEMBER 2014

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BATMAN AND COMICS IN ACADEMIA: NOVEMBER 2014

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MALTA’S COMIC-EXPO 2014

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MALTA COMIC-CON 2014

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V FOR VENDETTA EVENT: NOVEMBER 2014

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LIBRARY DAY AT THE CENTRAL PUBLIC LIBRARY DECEMBER 2014

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BATMAN : 75 YEARS ANNIVERSARY : DECEMBER 2014

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1.Executive summary This report will outline the basic scope and aims of the NGO and youth organization, Graphic Novels Library Malta. It will brush upon the history of the organization as well as the projects and collaborations that the NGO was part of last year (2014). The organization is relatively young being only operational for these last 2 years. Two Librarians, being also avid comic book fans, founded Graphic Novels Library Malta in the beginning of 2013. The librarians Ryan Scicluna and Luke Brincat conjured up the idea to create a library for comics with the aim to use such comics for educational purposes.

During their First year they established a social media page, through Facebook, to post articles and resources that would be beneficial to anyone looking into comics as a tool for education. Considering today’s day and age, where new systems for educating the young are sought after, the organization provided the key for new areas of exploration. After the first successful year GNLM manage to get hold of the attention of the Centre for Literacy’s Director, Charles Mifsud. His profound interest was sustained by agreeing on the fact that comics have a great potential to be used as a tool for inspiring children to read and improve their literacy skills.

The concept presented by Graphic Novels Library was starting to pick up within the various education circles. Upon this initial success the original founding members decided to open the doors of the organization to others who shared similar ideas. After the first year, GNLM registered for NGO status and also a youth organization since most of the members of the council were and are under the age of 25 years.

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The first council was founded in March 2014 and it was made up of Ryan Scicluna as Chairperson, Luke Brincat as Secretary, Luke Caruana as Events Coordinator, Audrienne Degiorgio as Research Officer and Julia Pollaco as Treasurer.

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Aims The NGO has one clear aim which is to create a library consisting of comics and graphic novels which would propel the following:

•

To promote comics as educational tools both to the public and educators

•

To educate through Pop Culture (lectures, session, presentations, discussions, etc…)

•

To give the opportunity to local comic book creators to promote their work and knowledge of the subject in an educational setting

Mission Statement

“Education through Comics and Pop Culture” Description:

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To promote Literacy and Information Literacy tools through comics and graphic novels.

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To promote cultural awareness in other mediums such as Films, Arts and Literature.

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To have a place where educators or interested parties can meet and discuss topics of interest that fall under the "Geek" or "Nerd" labels while connecting and engaging people with similar interests.

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To create a space to share thoughts.

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To be a resource to teachers, parents, academics, etc.... in order to aid people to better understand the culture of comics and how they can use the medium to educate or teach new skills that are essential to a National Literacy Framework.

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•

To assist in presentations, discussions and organise workshops to students and educators alike on how comics, films, arts, literature can be used as an educational tool in any related subject.

•

To promote local artists who want to collaborate with us in creating a market for comics, films and art produced locally.

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2.GNLM Report on the Summer Schools Pilot Project (July-September 2014) Plan For the first time ever, Graphic Novels Library Malta, hereafter simply referred to as GNLM, took the initiative to do a pilot project with other primary schools and child care centers on a voluntary basis for the summer period of 2014.

The aim of the pilot project was to experiment with comics during sessions with children and see if the children responded well with the idea. Also the comics were used to promote literacy and spark an interest in storytelling or creating comics. This exercise also helped GNLM in planning future sessions and workshops at a cost to be able to pay instructors to deliver similar sessions.

The treasurer, Julia Pollacco, following the President’s (Ryan Scicluna) instructions, sent an email to a number of educational and child care institutions offering to do a 1 or 2 hour session with children using comics. From a list of 54 schools and clubs only 9 responded. We managed to do sessions with 8 schools/clubs while with the other, St Margaret’s College, it was agreed to work on another project using funds from “Il-Premju tal-President ghallKreattivita’ ”. This resulted in an activity dealing with comic creation workshops for secondary school students during the academic year.

It was agreed to set a subcommittee to deal with the logistics of organising the summer sessions which was headed by Ryan Scicluna, Audrienne Degorgio (Funds and Research officer) and Luke Caruana, who was given the role of an Events Coordinator.

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The role of this subcommittee was to set up the summer schedule and recruit as many interested third parties as possible beside the members of the committee. This was done to have a healthy number of people, varying ideologies and prevent situations of having to give a lesson by unassisted personnel.

Apart from two of the representatives, none who provided the lessons were full time teachers with a reputable amount of experience to their advantage. Still, many who volunteered had a passion for the comics medium or at the very least, an interest in superheroes. Thus, the idea was that none of the volunteers who are not in the subcommittee would do more than a maximum of three lessons per summer.

As a token of appreciation and proof that the said volunteers did participate in the workshops, a letter of recommendation was issued to each and every participant, many of whom were students building their own CVs gradually.

Context The major aim of GNLM is to have a well-stocked exclusive library of comics and graphic novels and well-managed sections of comics in a number of public libraries. With this in mind, the founding member (Ryan Scicluna) started giving lectures to students who were reading for a Bachelor in Education on how best to include comics in the classroom.

Given that, in two years, GNLM evolved from a group of two into a team of six people; it was deemed fit that the anniversary should be promoted in a special manner. Thus, GNLM had to share its ideas with the public in a manner, which was convenient, voluntary and beneficial. Thus, the summer schools pilot project was conceived with the idea to promote comics in general but more importantly within an educational context. The major crux was coordinating the

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dates and managing the human resources appropriately. A facebook group was set up and shared with a number of interested parties in order to coordinate the whole project. Ideas were shared and a number of seasoned comic enthusiasts took the lead to set up a general lesson plan for everyone to use.

It is important to note that the demographics of children GNLM targeted ranged from the ages of three to ten. The Following are the members who coordinated and participated in the project, all forming part of the GNLM committee :

• • • •

Luke Caruana Audrienne Degiorgio Julia Pollacco Ryan Scicluna

Participating Summer Schools/clubs The following is a list of schools, educational institutions and child care centers which accepted GNLM’s invitation for the sessions during the summer period of July-September 2014 : • • • • • • • •

Kids on Campus Learn and Play Bright Sparks Learning Key Eden Summer Club Saint James Cavallier Summer Club Inspire Summer School Luqa 3-16

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Participating volunteers The following are the volunteers whom from their own free will gave their time and energy so that our sessions could be successful. On behalf of GNLM, the committee wishes to thank them all once again. They proved their worth in a number of ways and were quite discreet about it. • • • • •

Dean Fenech Peter Magro Sharon Pace Fabio Agius Rachel Vassallo

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Suggestions and recommendations for future similar activities During the summer school pilot, GNLM identified some issues with how people in general perceive comics and what they expect from comics oriented sessions. GNLM observed that most people expect comic book creation workshops instead of reading using comics. This prompted us to start considering offering such courses with the help of professionals in the industry. When children were exposed to different types of sessions with comics they were more receptive and enjoyed the fun element of each session.

Different types of sessions included: • • • • •

Reading using comics Creating comic book superhero crafts Creating Comics (Drawing and writing) Acting out comic book stories Translating children’s stories into comics

It was also agreed between the committee members and the volunteers that future session should be against payment so that instructors can be paid to deliver sessions of an improved quality. This would guarantee a certain level of commitment and also establish a level of professionalism when delivering the sessions.

GNLM will also try to propose such sessions to different target groups; one of them being secondary school students with session focusing more on the story creation element and improving their literacy skills. Another area to be explored is how comics can be used for discussion purposes with different age groups. Using comics as the starting point to meaningful discussions and arguments about social issues, politics, etc...

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3.Youth meet Youth NGO Fair - (July 2014) In 2014 GNLM was invited by ‘Aġenzija żgħażagħ ’ to be a participant at the first edition of the ‘Youth meet Youth’ NGO fair, which was organized on Saturday 19th July. The aim of the Fair was to bring together NGOs and youth organizations and together promote their projects and causes to the general public. The fair was held in the square next to the National Aquarium in Qawra.

The attendance and participation from the audience was a good one. As an NGO, GNLM managed to make a number of very useful connections. GNLM also managed to promote its cause with the general public. In fact, a number of parents and teachers applauded our efforts to promote literacy in a different way which is appealing to children.

The fair itself was an educational experience for us. Events like this one are highly encouraged as they provide valuable contacts and opportunities for future projects. One such contact was with the organization ‘Prism’. GNLM will be collaborating with Prism next year by organizing a workshop through ERASMUS+. The workshop will focus on using comics as a socializing tool for participants from different EU countries.

GNLM should participate more in events organized by ‘Aġenzija żgħażagħ ’. Such events are extremely important for the NGO in terms of awareness about activities, new and updates about current activity regarding the targeted demographic groups and as an aid to the organization in general.

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4.Fresher's Week Debate - (End of September 2014) This event was the first one organised by GNLM for the University of Malta Academic year 2014-2015. The speakers were Audrienne Degiorgio and Luke Caruana while the chair was Julia Pollacco. The event was held during Fresher’s week and was given coverage by the ‘Insiter Team’ as well as ‘Third Eye Malta’.

Content wise, the debate took the form of a discussion. The main speakers argued for a case where comics can and should be used as teaching tools and aids. The audience presented some questions and seemed well disposed to the idea with a couple of teachers asking some questions. Several studies were cited as well as some examples from comic books such as Neil Gaiman’s Sandman series, issue called “Thermidor”, which tackled the French Revolution. This comic book could be used both for history lessons due to the historical characters (including Thomas Jefferson) as well as literary ones due to the mythopoeia. Ms Degiorgio presented the case of ‘Atlas Black’ as a substitute for expensive business and marketing books which proved to be a success when used in an American University.

The general response from this event was good and more people seemed interested to discuss comics in education.

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5.Batman and Comics in Academia: An exhibition highlighting the importance of graphic novels as a tool in literacy - (November 2014)

The University of Malta Library in collaboration with Graphic Novels Library Malta in celebration of 75 years of Batman organised an exhibition titled:

Batman and Comics in Academia: An exhibition highlighting the importance of graphic novels as a tool in literacy

The exhibition was held at the University of Malta Library’s exhibition area. The exhibition started from Monday 17th November till Wednesday 3rd December. It consisted of a collection of Batman related graphic novels and comics that have shaped the character we know today.

‘Batman’ first appeared in issue No. 27 of Detective Comics in May 1939. He was created by artist Bob Kane and writer Bill Finger and originally named "the Bat-Man". He is also referred to as "the Caped Crusader", "the Dark Knight", and "the World's Greatest Detective". Seventy-five (75) years have passed

and

the

character’s

influence

is

stronger

than

ever.

Comics and graphic novels are researched in various areas of studies such as arts, education, communication, translation, and philosophy. Further research is being carried out in these fields, which help to outline the benefits of reading comics and the impact they have on society in general. A number of publications owned by the University Library and dissertations from this

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University were on display, each illustrating different areas of the comic book medium from an academic perspective.

The exhibition attracted a number of visitors from students to academics. This made the event a success with Library patrons asking for more similar exhibitions. In order to promote the exhibition, an event was organized for the general public at the University Library. The event held on Wednesday 26th November attracted a number of visitors. It consisted of a talk/discussion on why the character of ‘Batman’ does not kill his archrival the ‘Joker’. During the event, the speaker, Ryan Scicluna asked several questions which made the audience discuss whether killing the Joker was the solution and how this would effect the image ‘Batman’ tries to be. The audience participated with interesting questions of their own. The talk discussed utilitarianism versus deontology as philosophical ideologies that are present in the duel between ‘Batman’ and the ‘Joker’. Discussing Batman’s moral compass, deontology and utilitarianism, as well as the story lines illustrating this point, proved quite interesting and audience participation certainly was an asset. Having networked with the History Society on the previous event, we sought the Philosophy Students Association. We also pitched the idea to one philosophy professor who considered putting out our presentation on the Junior College consultation sessions happening in February.

More events like this are encouraged with more varied themes.

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6.Malta Comics Expo - (End of October 2014) During this year’s edition of the Comic Expo, Graphic Novels Library Malta attended and held a number of talks and panels regarding the comic book industry. Along with this, ‘Legends of the Knight’, a documentary about how the character of ‘Batman’ influences people to do good in the world, was also screened.

Throughout the event, a stall was present where members got to reach out and broaden the NGO’s audience, as well as promote the cause of comics as an educational tool. This boosted the GNLM facebook page with new likes. This translated in more people being aware of the NGO and what we do.

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7.Comic Con 2014 - (End of November 2014) GNLM had a stand in the main hall at ground level. The stand consisted of a regular table with the GNLM Roll up behind it. The location was not very prominent but visitors did come to talk to us.

The original plan was to promote the GNLM Christmas Raffle and GNLM in general. Due to the fact that no tickets were sold after the first day, it was decided to cancel the raffle altogether and focus on awareness and making people aware that we exist, what projects we are working on, etc…

Sunday was better as GNLM, represented by Ryan Scicluna, took part in a discussion with Mr Mallia, Audrienne Degiorgio representing ‘PILOT’, Daniela Attard, members of Wicked comics, Dean Fenech, and Tim Perkins about the comic book industry in Malta and its future. During the discussion, it was pointed out that in Malta we need a network that can coordinate the number of talented artists and writers into a publishing/distributing company. This can be done to better target different markets instead of fiercely competing with one another and destroying each other. This is exactly the sort of idea GNLM will be aiming for in the coming years. Starting from next year, GNLM will have a number of projects dealing with publications and literacy. The outcome is to try to create projects for several artists and writers then market the product to different target segments depending on the appeal of the book.

Overall, the Malta Comic Con was an interesting experience like always. Hopefully, next year GNLM will have publications to sell during the event.

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8.V for Vendetta event – (November 2014) For the 5th of November, GNLM thought to commemorate the event with a talk on the Fawkesian hero, ‘Guy Fawkes’ and the famous Graphic Novel, ‘V for Vendetta’ by Alan Moore. The speakers were Luke Caruana as events coordinator and Adam Peter Fretwell as an English history affacionado. The event was chaired by Yasmine Cachia from the Malta University Humanist Association.

Per organization, it was held in room 302 in the University of Malta Library and had a fair attendance. Mostly, the audience was involved in history and politics and the feedback was very positive.

There was not a lot of room for promotion and initially, the event was planned to be co-organized by DESA but given their event on Dylan Thomas and their book sale outside the library, this was not possible. An event with DESA would have been an excellent marketing tool and the parties are still on the table for such an occurence. Sharon Pisani gave GNLM good coverage with Insiter and did a sterling job as well as a much appreciated one.

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9.Library Day: Comics at the CPL - (December 2014) On the 10th of December, marking this year's Library Day, a comics and graphic novels collection was launched in the Central Public Library here in Malta.

Graphic Novels Library Malta (GNLM) together with the support of the Central Public Library delivered their promise to get libraries to include comics into their collection. GNLM created a list of graphic novels, which was then passed on to Ms. Cheryl Falzon, the librarian at the Central Public Library. Throughout the summer period, the list was discussed and it was agreed that a small number of comics would be bought to start off with and shelved in the Junior's Library section, if they prove to be successful and popular, the collection will then be further developed.

Among the titles that are available for the public to borrow, one can find stories about Superman, Batman, Spiderman, X-Men, and many more. The collection also has a couple of first volumes of some titles.

The aim of this project is to encourage children to read, especially targeting reluctant readers and offering them an alternative to the novel. Both GNLM and the Central Public Library hope to start a chain reaction, which will encourage children to read in general.

Comics have been proven to aid in the acquisition of various literacy skills. They are also an entertaining medium with stories that children can relate to or are already familiar with, making the reading process less tedious.

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10.Batman 75 years celebration workshops + Legends of the Knight (for secondary schools) (December 2014) GNLM organized a week (1st-5th December) of workshops for secondary school students at St. James Cavalier Centre for Creativity in Valletta. These consisted of an introduction into the comic book genre and a presentation about the character of Batman, which is celebrating 75 years from its original debut. After the presentations, the students were asked to create a Maltese version of the character of batman. Following this, a short break was given to the students and the documentary Legends of the Knight was screened. After the film, a winner of the best design was announced and given a Batman graphic novel.

St James Cavalier only received bookings for Monday 1st, Wednesday 3rd and Thursday 4th. On Monday, 19 students from St. Catherine's Secondary School attended the workshop with their teachers. On Wednesday, 7 students from the St Margaret's College Verdala School’s comic book club participated with their teacher Dean Fenech. On Thursday, 18 students from Stella Maris College School’s Film club took part in the workshop.

The workshops can be considered a success with both students and teachers praising the activity as a fun and educational one. Luke Caruana and Ryan Scicluna gave the sessions, with the help of Marion Sciberras, currently working as an intern through the LEAP Project.

Ms. Amanda Palmier, the contact person and school coordinator from St. James Cavalier, was very pleased with the activity in general and we discussed the possibility of organizing more workshops and similar events in the future. 21

This event cost GNLM the fee of the speaker and rights of the movie and it generated some income for the NGO. (Further details are presented in the financial report)

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11.MaLIA Information Management Professional Award – Advancement in Education and Literacy (December 2014) Graphic Novel Library Malta was awarded an award from the ‘Malta Library and Information Association’ during the ‘Information Management Professional Awards’ that was held on Friday 12th December 2014. This award recognizes the committed effort and work in expanding and enriching educational achievements and addressing the challenges of illiteracy in Malta, particularly as they relate to the role of the library, archive, or other information setting. This award highlights a significant achievement for the NGO, which had been in operation for only 8 months. In those 8 months GNLM has accomplished a great deal of milestones as highlighted by this annual report.

GNLM is grateful to everyone who has supported every project and offered help and council when needed. GNLM would like to especially thank Prof. Charles Mifsud, the director of the Centre for Literacy, who has supported the NGO from its early stages; Prof. Milena Dobreva, the head of the Library Information and Archive department at the University of Malta, who gave GNLM advice and guidance to help the NGO flourish and organize projects; Ms Cheryl Falzon, the deputy librarian at the Central Public Library, who saw the potential for a comics and graphic novels section in Public Libraries; Most importantly GNLM would like to thank all the comic book fans, Maltese writers and artists that gave GNLM a chance to show the difference that comics can do in the educational sector.

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12.GNLM – Future Projects

Ghaxaq Local Council – Comics Book collaboration For next year, GNLM is already working with the Ghaxaq Local Council to publish a graphic novel highlighting the history of the village. The book is targeted to primary and secondary school children to help them out with school projects about the village of Ghaxaq. This book will be available in both English and Maltese. It will be printed but a digital copy will also be made available online.

Working on this project there are already Elizabeth Mallia as the writer, Audrienne Degiorgio as the Chief editor, Julia Pollacco as the script editor, Luke Caruana as the translator and Ryan Scicluna as the Project Coordinator. We are still looking for an artist that will match the styles expressed by the Ghaxaq Council. This project will be funded through a Government fund scheme that helps Local councils organize events for the community. This book will launch sometime in September 2015. An event will be organized to launch the graphic novel.

This project is being tackled as a pilot project from the publishing viewpoint. If successful, this can be further expanded into a series of graphic novels that will explore the Maltese village histories. Eventually collecting a comprehensive history of the Maltese Islands.

Digital Comics Magazine – Audrienne Degiorgio This project will be in a form of short comic book stories published digitally 3 times a year by various artists and writers from across Malta. This will in spirit 24

be a continuation of the publication ‘PILOT’. Once a year the issues will be collected into a print publication to be sold during events like the Malta Comic Con and the Comic Expo.

Maltese Graphic Novels and Comics Bibliography – Daniela Attard For her dissertation in art, Daniela Attard created a bibliography of all Maltese comics and graphic novels published from the early 1960s until recently. GNLM would like to publish this as a publication with information on each publication and ideally details from where one might want to buy or view a copy.

The National Book Council will ideally fund this project, as they already express an interest in a publication of this sort. More details need to be discussed early next year.

Publishing and Distribution Network GNLM is working very hard to create a network for artists and writers to come together and create work that can be sold locally and internationally. This network will work in the form of a central figure co-ordinating projects, issuing calls of applications for various positions such as writers and artists, printing and distributing the finished products locally and internationally, publishing in both print and digital formats while assigning royalties to creators and contributors.

Such a network is needed for Malta due to the small nature of the population and the huge number of talented people available for projects. This will also encourage the production of more publications from various writers and artists 25

who might want to break into the comic book industry. It will spotlight the local talents on an international level and promote Malta as a hub of culture.

Publication – ICARUS by Samuel Mallia GNLM has been approached by Samuel Mallia to help him publish his graphic Novel ‘ICARUS’. If funding can be acquired, GNLM will be publishing this graphic novel next year in both print and digital formats. This can be the first original published graphic novel under the GNLM imprint. The challenges here is to manage to sell enough copies to breakeven the cost of printing and make some profit to encourage comic book artists to create more work for profit.

Comics Book Appreciation classes GNLM would like to start organizing comic book appreciation courses and/or classes targeting adults, teachers and parents. The aim of these classes would be to educate the public especially the adults about the benefits of reading comics and how comic books and graphic novels can help to improve a number of literacies. Parents should know that comics allow children to read and inspire their creativity. Different stories can be used in different contexts and like T.V, movies and books, comics offer different genres of story telling. This will eventually eradicate the notion that comics are childish.

This is a project that will be tackled more seriously next year with more people on board the organization to help out.

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13.Financial Accounts Year 2014 GNLM Financial Accounts Year 2014 Date

Item

Expenditure Income

17/02/2014 Batman "Legends of the Knight" Film Rights

€375

12/07/2014 T-shirts (1st 5)

€75

17/07/2014 GNLM Banner

€35

15/07/2014 Flip Chart Magnetic Whiteboard

€88

30/07/2014 Kids on Campus Donation (summer schools) 31/07/2014 NGO application 31/10/2014 Roll-up banner

€10 €40 €150

27/11/2014 GNLM Brochures

€56

10/11/2014 Comic Con Tickets for 2 days

€72

1-5/12/2014 St James Cavalier - Batman Event 05/12/2014 Speakers (10x3hrsx2days)

€60

05/12/2014 Income from event 31/12/2014

Totals Balance

-

€228

€951

€238

-€713

Starting from next year new sources of income will be explored starting from the Malta Arts Funds, Sponsorships, and other financial aids. The proposed publications will also be another way to make the NGO sustainable.

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14. Final Remarks As a first year, this was a very hectic year for the NGO. We managed to succeed in achieving one of our primary goals; that of including comics in a public library with the aim to help promote literacy. Other events helped to promote GNLM as an organization and gather support from various people.

One of the main focuses for next year should be funding as we have a number of projects and ideas planned but without the financial capital to invest in them they remain only an idea.

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15. The Year in Pictures

Summer School Pilot Project : July to September 2014

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Youth for Youth Participation: July 2014

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Fresher’s Week Debate: End of September 2014

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Batman and Comics in Academia: November 2014

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Malta’s Comic-Expo 2014

35

Malta Comic-Con 2014

36

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V for Vendetta Event: November 2014

38

Library Day at the Central Public Library December 2014

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Batman : 75 Years Anniversary : December 2014

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