UC San Diego Library

BACKGROUND:

How can health sciences collections make health and well-being approachable, rather than academic or clinical? 

At UC San Diego Library, we built a graphic medicine collection as an inviting way for users to engage with these topics. Graphic medicine blends comics and healthcare, using visual storytelling to examine illness, caregiving, and healing. These narratives draw readers in and build empathy, often sharing personal experiences of illness and care. They are also relatively low-cost to build, and their visual format sets them apart from typical health collections. We offer titles in both digital and print formats, giving readers a choice and expanding access to the collection.

DESCRIPTION:

Graphic medicine spans a range of conditions, storytelling styles, and tones. That range makes it flexible enough to support two distinct types of outreach.

First, graphic medicine reaches users through leisure reading. It's an easy way into health topics that can otherwise feel intimidating to approach. Our collection's memoirs and novels cover many health conditions, helping readers understand illness, care, and recovery from the patient's perspective. These works, which include mental health narratives, fit naturally into a book display for Mental Health Awareness Month, letting users explore difficult topics through this easy format. Several health and wellness departments on campus picked up the display and shared it in their communication channels. That uptake extended beyond the library, showing the collection’s broader appeal.

Second, graphic medicine reaches users through art and cultural events. Comics are an art form, giving the library a way to form connections with campus and community events around the arts. We've developed an annual Comics of Care exhibit of graphic medicine works, held during Comic-Con week, a San Diego institution for pop culture celebration. This year, we expanded further by partnering with UC San Diego's Science of Story, a campus-wide series celebrating storytelling. These partnerships bring in people who might not otherwise seek out health topics or the collection.

CONCLUSION:

Our graphic medicine collection shows how a cost-effective resource can offer flexibility for user outreach. Promoting it through leisure reading, themed book displays, and cultural exhibits lets us connect with user groups and communities in engaging ways, through the arts and community events.

Presented at the 2026 Annual Meeting of the Midcontinental Chapter of the Medical Library Association (MCMLA), held virtually on October 1, 2026. A presentation transcript is available as a supplemental file.