A monthly library book display is a great way to bring awareness to different topics, seasons, and celebrations. Check out these ideas!
The countdown to spring has begun, and we wanted to usher in the flowers with this awesome bouquet project! With outdoor festivals in the future, this is a great little project to host at your lib…
I am very lucky in that I have two very artistic assistants who do displays for our teens. After 20some years doing displays, I was getting kind of burned out and to be honest, I wasn’t awesome at it. But my assistants are, so it was a task I was happy to delegate. We would […]
Lester Public Library, Two Rivers, Wisconsin
Library bulletin boards can be a great way to show off your current programs, books, and ideas. We’ve gathered ideas to give you inspiration for your next bulletin board display!
Time to inspire and motivate your students with these 4 fun bulletin board ideas that are perfect for schools, classrooms, or libraries!
Next week marks the start of National Library Week!
Hello everyone! Today I want to to dive into my love of paper craft and share with you one of my recent and favorite creations for the library. This display m
The countdown to spring has begun, and we wanted to usher in the flowers with this awesome bouquet project! With outdoor festivals in the future, this is a great little project to host at your lib…
By Chris Plumley Another fabulous display by Chris from Lincoln College, UK. This fun display is based on fictional travel destinations.
Pokemon Go was all the rage in 2016. Fortnite in 2017. You get where we are going with this! Getting back into the swing of things of a new school year can be tricky, but we can help! An easy way to connect with your students is to make your back-to-school lessons relevant and relatable. How can you do this? We have compiled a list of several ways that you can easily incorporate teen trends into your back-to-school lessons for the first few weeks (or anytime!) of the year. Most teens love music and connect with it on a personal level. You can bridge that connection by incorporating music into your daily routines. For example, play an upbeat song between bell work and discussion time to motivate your students. If you struggle to know what's popular with your students, just ask them! The beginning of the year is the perfect time to find out more about them and their music preferences. You can give them a writing prompt asking what their favorite songs are or be even more specific; ask them: Which song makes you want to get up and dance? Which song could you listen to over and over again and never grow tired of? Once you have compiled a list of their favorite songs, search the lyrics of a few. You can often find the best examples of figurative language in song lyrics. If the lyrics are appropriate, print them off and play the song in class and ask students to find examples of figurative devices. This activity can be done anytime, but it's for great back-to-school to review figurative language and to gauge your students' learning levels. Another way to incorporate music directly into learning is to compare popular music artists with writers or subjects you are reading. During poetry and Shakespeare units, I love challenging students to see if they can guess whether the line or phrase is from a song or a poem. I created an entire series with various poets and musicians that you can download here. I'll start out with a presentation and a student handout so the as whole can engage in the activity. It's so much fun to see their reactions when they swear there's no way the line came from an old poet, but it actually did! The next day, I'll display the bulletin board (below) so students can continue to interact with the lines of poetry and songs. One way to grab the attention of your students is to explore books that may have been released since school has been out and/or sharing some titles of books that will be released in the coming months! Talk about anticipation! :) Here are a few YA books that came out recently: Girl Gone Viral by Arvin Ahmadi The Haunted by Danielle Vega We Walked the Sky by Lisa Fiedler Here are a few YA books that will be coming out soon: Frankly in Love by David Yoon The Beautiful by Renee Ahdieh You can also see what your students are interested in by displaying these Genre Reading Cards around a few tables in your classroom (or in the library). Simply, set out the different genre cards, select a few books that fit within each genre, set a timer for 2-3 minutes and let your students explore the various titles. Follow-up with a brief discussion on their favorite books they may have already read (or discovered) through the stations. This is a quick and easy way to see what genres they are interested in or may be interested in exploring this school year. Whether it's the World Cup or the Super Bowl, chances are many of your students are fans of sports or are familiar with at least one sport. Using this FREE survey at the beginning of the year, ask your students which sports or teams are their favorite. (Click HERE to get an editable digital copy of the survey ready for distance learning!) Once you have an idea about their favorites, you can incorporate them into your lessons. For example, if you are writing a sample sentence for a grammar lesson, name-drop a player from one of their favorite teams. My students are usually divided between being either a Chicago Cubs or a St. Louis Cardinals baseball fan, so a sample sentence may be: "Anthony Rizzo and Dexter Fowler sat down together to have pizza after the Cubs defeated the Cardinals last night." Every two years, you can integrate the Olympics into your lessons. Re-word the titles of your activities or assignments by using Olympic-themed names. Instead of calling it a class discussion or a "think-pair-share," call it the "Opening Ceremony" or "Passing the torch of knowledge." A quiz can be called a bobsled competition or a vault competition for gymnastics. Award the top three scores with gold, silver and bronze medals. If you teach multiple sections of the same class, have your classes compete for the overall winner. Awards points for the class with the fewest tardies, the highest scores on quizzes or assignments, and/or the liveliest discussions. Better yet, have your students create the areas for competitions and what they'd like to call them. They can even pick which country they would like to represent (or create their own country). Some students may not like traditional sports, but love video and online gaming. The popularity of videos such as Minecraft and Fortnite paired with the rise of schools adopting eSports as official extracurricular activities indicate that our students still love gaming. Instead of fighting it, try to embrace it by giving students opportunities to utilize both the skills they learn through games with academic skills. For example, I asked my students to recreate a scene from Shakespeare's The Tragedy of Julius Caesar. One group built Rome in Minecraft and reenacted one of the scenes live as the class watched. My head was swimming a bit, but it was pretty amazing to see what they created together and how they adapted it to the text. They learned more about the play from that one assignment and had so much fun doing it. This particular assignment may not work with other games, but if you allow your students the possibility of incorporating their favorite game into a project, you may be amazed at the ideas that they come up with. I don't know about you, but one of my favorite things as a student was when we were able to follow-up a book with a movie. As a visual person, I always appreciated when I saw a book come to life after reading it (even though most people prefer the book over the movie). Watching the movie after reading the book can lead to a lot of fun class discussions. Here are a few fun prompts that you can use to follow-up after your are done reading and watching! What did you like better, the book or the movie? Why was the book better than the movie? Why was the movie better than the book? What did the book have that the movie didn't? What did the movie have that the book didn't? A great way to grab the attention of your students would be to plan a unit around an upcoming movie release based on a book. This might be an older book or perhaps, a newer one. Regardless, your students will think it's pretty cool that they are going to be able to watch a movie. I realize it's not possible for all classes to be able to watch a movie in a theatre, but it's a fun and quick field trip if you can make it work! Movie theatres usually give a discount on larger groups and I usually try to work in a price that includes popcorn and a drink for everyone, too. If you think money may be an issue for some students, it does not hurt to ask your administraton for some assistance. They will, almost always, find a way to make sure everyone in your class is able to participate. You can also plan a unit around a particular theme of a movie coming out (or already in stores), if you're looking to take a break from reading for a few weeks. Once students gain a better understanding or appreciation about a particular theme, you can show them a movie where they can explore that theme even more. This way, if taking your students to a movie theatre isn't an option, then show a movie in your classroom instead! Note: You can ask your students which movies they may be interested in watching at the start of the year, then surprise them with the themed unit based around that film! One of the easiest ways to incorporate both social media and pop culture all at once is incorporating current events into your classroom. You can do this on a local, national or international level. You can simply ask your students to start talking about what's happening in your town, in the world, or even more specifically, with their favorite movie actors, singers, bands, etc. What's the gossip with their favorite celebrities? Once your ideas have been shared and topics have been listed, you can use this list as a means for an impromptu writing activity, as an essay topic, etc. The possibilities are endless. If you're interested in checking out more ways on how you can incorporate pop culture into the classroom, click HERE. You might also be interested in: Soundtrack of my Life/Playlist of my Summer
As we turn our minds towards Thanksgiving, we often think of food, so we created this display to show off all of the books that have food on their covers. We kept to mostly fiction, since we’…
The Medusa Book Nook is a mesmerizing piece of 3D printed fantasy bookshelf decor and bookend that captures the intrigue and mystique of Greek mythology. This unique and intricately designed book nook stands as a captivating addition to any book lover's collection and offers a distinctive way to display and organize your favorite books. Crafted with meticulous attention to detail, the Medusa Book Nook depicts the mythical figure of Medusa, known for her snake-covered hair and the ability to turn onlookers into stone. The 3D printed scene allows for a depth and texture that brings this fantastical character to life. This book nook serves not only as decor but also as functional bookends, helping to keep your books neatly in place. It's a statement piece that not only celebrates the love of literature but also adds an element of art and storytelling to your bookshelf. The Medusa Book Nook is perfect for those who appreciate the rich world of Greek mythology, fantasy, and storytelling. It provides an opportunity to infuse your personal library with a touch of magic and intrigue, turning your bookshelf into a portal to the mythical world. It's an ideal gift for book enthusiasts and lovers of fantasy, offering both functionality and artistic flair to any home library or reading nook.
Libraries can be some of the most visually stunning meccas of architecture, but even if you aren't fortunate enough to live near one of the most beautiful libraries in the world - your local libraries can still contain some pretty creative designs. The following list is a collection of photos from everyday libraries that have been spiced up with hilarious and creative twists from the funny librarians who run them.
Formerly known as Origami (Ori meaning folding and kami meaning paper), paper art has become a phenomenon in recent years and it is easy to see why...
Today I am going to show you how I created crazy cool book wall around our Letter Board. See the 36″ option HERE, and the 24″ option HERE. You will need: –Letter Board – Old Books (I used a mix of old paperbacks and some antique hardcover ones) -Double Sided Tape -Heavy Duty Command Strips -Stapler […]
I am very lucky in that I have two very artistic assistants who do displays for our teens. After 20some years doing displays, I was getting kind of burned out and to be honest, I wasn’t awesome at it. But my assistants are, so it was a task I was happy to delegate. We would […]
Since February is Library Lover’s Month, I wanted to showcase something that librarians work very hard on and that patrons love: all those wonderful book displays!
Welcome them in and they'll never want to leave.
Ah, Banned Books Week. It's coming up, just next week! Remember when I shared my library's display from a couple years back? Well here's where a lot of the ideas came from. In honor of the banned and challenged books, I thought I'd share many of the displays and posters that I find to be most inspiring or intriguing. It's not about forcing books on people or celebrating negativity, but merely reminding patrons that they have the freedom to read what they want. So please don't take that right away from others. I love this quote from Roberta Stevens (image from Ebook Friendly) because it really sums up that sentiment in one easy sentence. I would make this into a big poster and hang it front and center. Here are some more display ideas! These banners were made by Nikki at Florescent Beige for her library. Talk about a huge impact! If that doesn't get patrons asking questions, then I don't know what would. Carrying on the "burned" theme, this is a pretty straightforward and easy display some teens made that makes its point. It really amps up the idea behind "censorship." This was highlighted by YALSA, who also highlighted this display from Des Moines Public Library: With the reasons why the book was challenged or banned on the cover. Genius. If you want to carry that idea further, check out these covers I found on Pinterest: Or if you want to keep people guessing, I like the touch of humor that this simple display had: You know what series was often challenged? Harry Potter. Might as well put that to good use! This display was at the Ballard Branch Library. The silhouettes are super impressive, huh? And check out how Laman Library's Teen Center made their's... The ever classic and totally awesome mug shot display is great to get patrons involved (from Oak Park Public Library) Here's a display from the University of Otago that may get patron's curiosity piqued. They've got everything from the first English Bible to erotica (isn't that quite the range). If you need a good passive program, Molly from Wrapped Up in Books, shredded up some copies of books for teens to guess the title. And to cap it all off, my all time favorite banned book display: Twin Hickory Public Library totally takes the cake. It's funny, yet still poignant and definitely draws attention. Genius, my friends. What sort of display catches your eye when it comes to banned books?
Discover how the bookstore system so you can get your book the extra promotion it deserves. Here's how to get retailers to sell more books for you.
Librarians: They're smarter than all of us.
While they aren't exactly known for being wildly humorous with their shushing and their late fee reminders, these 35 photos prove that they know how to get a laugh.
It's not anywhere close to unique, but hey, that just makes it classic. This here library display is simple for anyone to do. I'm talking about gettin' wild... What I'm really proud of is the felt animal prints I made. Yep, hand cut from patterns I found online. Can you see the texture? It just adds a bit more glam to it. Safari glam. Just what is needed in the library!
Explore librariantiff's 3186 photos on Flickr!
When helping my students fall in love with books became a priority, everything changed. My relationships with students. Their relationships with books. The look and feel of my classroom. As I turned to experts like Nancie
This display got people dancing in front of the circulation desk! I slightly modified a poem I found here, pulled out the thickest books I could fine, and the rest speaks for itself.
If you use Facebook, #22 will make you laugh.
Showing off your book collection is never goes out in style. Book brings color, warmth and personality to your space and it is also fun to curl up with. You can store your book with a simple open-backed shelving unit that is unique and could be a useful for a room divider. It is offer the illusion of a separate space without completely closing it off visually and it is allow light to flow through to both sides of the room and provide storage at the same time.
The Librarian’s Guide to Book Etiquette New comic for The Southampton Review!
Hi there my friends…happy Thankful Thursday …a little bit different than the others…but I thought that you would enjoy a little bit more to look at…so today we are going to take a peek at the beauty of decorating with books…there are many pages of creativity on this subject and here are a few…keep turning […]
Children's Mystery Book Display for Juvenile Fiction and Nonfiction Nancy Drew silhouette on the side with READ footprints, leftover from an old Summer Reading program Sherlock Holmes silhouette cut out on black cardstock with the Cricut on and stuck down in a open bookSince cutting out actual magazine letters wouldn't be large enough for the display, I cut out the Can You Solve the Case? with Ransom Note font on the Cricut, then glued onto various construction paper/cardstock scraps. Get a Cl
Show them the world from your classroom.
Explore Southfield Public Library's 3181 photos on Flickr!
