But Wait...There's More!

I try to do a book series display for students every year. I find that a lot of teenagers enjoy getting lost in a series. Often, they will read a book from a series in a night or two and be excited to come and get the next one ASAP. I found a concept on Pinterest for this type of display, using the infomercial quote "But wait, there's more!" So, I found a picture of a well-known infomercial actor and pasted book covers in his hands to make it look as though he's selling books. The display has been effective so far: I've gotten some chuckles from students, and a number of books have been checked out from the display. Score for Pinterest and Ms. Kauffman!

Maker Week

We are trying something new in our high school library this year. The week before Winter Break, we will hold our first ever Maker Week. Each day, different materials will be available for students to upcycle into holiday gifts for friends or family members. Students will be able to use materials such as discarded books, magazines, card stock, laminate sheets, stickers and more. I am trying to purchase very little to support Maker Week; I would prefer that students use their creativity to make something interesting out of existing materials. They will be encouraged to create unique items; however, there will be samples available in case they need some inspiration. The examples I created ahead of time include a magazine tree, book page ornaments, a small paper box filled with candy, bookmarks and holiday cards. The library secretary created a lovely display outside of the library several weeks before the start of Maker Week in order to foster student interest ahead of time. I also requested an announcement to be read over the student news program, and I provided an ad to be included in the daily bulletin. I am excited about Maker Week, and I am anxious to see what the students create! I'm sure I will post during or after Maker Week to include what I learned throughout the process.

Happy Movember!

In celebration of Movember, a movement in which men grow mustaches to draw awareness to men's health issues, I decided to do a fun book display. This originally was a Pinterest find several years ago, but I had never found the right moment to put it together. Movember seemed like a perfect excuse to put mustaches on everything! My favorite cover is the one of Marley with a mustache.

Library Displays: Banned Books Week

Librarians tend to make a lot of displays, even at the secondary level! I like to document the displays that I've done in part so that I could recreate them in the future, but also so that I can demonstrate the book promotions that I've tried.

Some of the most elaborate displays I create annually for our high school library are for Banned Books Week. I email teachers and ask if they would like me to teach a lesson to their students on censorship or on book banning. This usually results in teaching lessons to several classes during Banned Books week. Often, one or two teachers will email later in the year about teaching a censorship lesson that fits into a unit that they are working on, citing my BBW email.

One year, I created a display outside of the library doors, and I covered the display case with papers that very crudely said "censored." When I removed the papers on the first day of Banned Books Week, information about banned books was revealed.

Have fun with Banned Books Week! Teenagers tend to be fascinated and surprised by the books included on the banned books lists published by ALA, and they love to talk about censorship.