A Comic Book Library at School

The doors to reading are open now that a comic book library at school is attracting students to read the stories of their favorite superheros.

Oneida Middle School art teacher Walt Mahoski is the curator of the comic book library which he has compiled with donations from collectors, and with items from his own collection. Currently there are about 8,000 titles in the comic book library.

“They like to know they are getting read,” Mahoski said of the collectors who donate to the school collection.

When Mahoski was a child, his love of comics inspired his love of reading. His favorite was a Mighty Thor comic that sparked his passion. The library has come of the comics he read when he was a kid.

“I was a terrible reader,” he said. “My mom dropped a bunch of comic books in my lap, and that was that, I was hooked.”

Hi hope is to inspire the Oneida students with the same passion for reading.

“There’s some kind of alchemy, with the stories, the color, the layout, the panels and word bubbles,” Mahoski said. “There’s something about it that hooks people, not just kids.”