July 20, 2023
Topic: Displays
Attendance:
Shannon, Hoover
Brooke, Springville Road
Deidre, Bessemer
Rebecca, Trussville
Erica, Powderly
Holley, Mtn Brook
Tamara, Irondale
Ellen, BPL
Romellia, Wylam
Noelle, BPL
Looking for ideas for displays? Pinterest is a great resource but can be a brain drain/rabbit hole! Be careful of your time! There are also several Facebook groups that will post pictures or ideas for themes, etc. I found "Library Bulletin Boards & Displays," "Public Library Displays Youth & Teens," and "Great Library Displays." Those might help you if you are in a bind. There are also frequently articles in BookBub, Medium, BookRiot, HubPages articles on great library displays.
We are told to "Market like a Bookstore" so pay attention to how local bookstores display their books or label them for recommendations. I also found a fairly good PowerPoint presentation on displays at Gale Empower Learning.
We talked about challenges to displays. There was a great deal of uproar over a very small Pride display at North Shelby library but others, like Springville Road, actually had positive feedback to Pride displays. There are often comment cards about specific books on display with vague references to pornography. After one such comment, Holley at MB found a book hidden near her boss' office! Some libraries (not JCLC) have chosen to remove all book displays when patrons complain about one type of display or another - choosing to not highlight groups in order to prove a point.
Does your library have a written policy for book displays? Having one might prevent or help justify choices made by library personnel in the case of challenges. Also, it might be helpful to keep track of what displays you do and when in order not to duplicate or get too stale.
Has anyone had success with the "Blind Date with a Book" concept? Bessemer had fun with Mylar balloons for attracting attention to displays. Maybe disco balls would work too? One library had fun with books that have had no circulations - they put them out and had patrons vote for whether to keep them or not - some ended up circulating!
What are your creative/successful ideas?
Next meeting: Annual Adult Program Swap on Sept 21st at 10 am.
