¿Deben estar los cómics en las bibliotecas?

It is unquestionable that the comic book as an artistic and literary expression occupies a specific place in this century’s popular culture. An attempt will be made to give an overview of comic books and their inclusion in information services. This paper presents by way of example the pioneering project in Spain of the creation of the Comic Library of the Murcia Regional Library. This centre was born with the aim of including comic books as part of information services and as far as possible make up for the neglect and the library and information vacuum experienced by this type of holdings which has relegated them to a marginal place in the literary and artistic world. Besides the preservation, classification and cataloguing of the collection, the aim of the comic library is to disseminate it and project it outward thus fulfilling a fitting role in education, learning, entertainment and in the collection and dissemination of Spanish cultural products. All the above is given concrete form in specific products such as the publication of a Manual for the computer-based cataloguing of comics, a subject Classification, a basic and annotated bibliography of comics, etc. which we hope will be a useful reference in your libraries. Mentioned is also made of future projects involving a series of extension activities for the promotion of this art form.