WebJunction

Wine - Grape Display

I did this display in 2001 and it was quite popular. Props included a wine barrel, plastic grapes, wine bottles, emptied and refilled with colored water, cork screw, corks, wine glass, grape products and pamphlets of our state wineries. Books included came from a list I compiled for fiction_l and can be found at www.webrary.org, booklists.
I took this picture of the original picture with my digital camera so the clarity might be fuzzy.

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/23571981@N00/427340812/" title="wine2 by lilac721@sbcglobal.net, on Flickr"><img src= "http://farm1.static.flickr.com/175/427340812_a3a5403b9e_m.jpg" width="160" height="240" alt="wine2" /></a>

I'm flattered...by all means please use whichever you choose. I'd love to see the end results.

Please pass the idea of this forum along. I'd love to see some pictures of other library displays.

Carol, this is such a great idea. I love your examples!

I know that some librarian friends of mine love putting their creative energy into book displays, while others dread it because they feel like they're not at all creative. I hope your ideas will inspire people. You've used readily available, inexpensive "props" to create eye-catching exhibits. I know that the King County Library system has some display kits on common themes, which it checks out to the smaller libraries, the ones that don't have the time or personnel to do it themselves. You're sharing some "idea kits" here.

I'd love to see what others are doing. I think I'll see if I can [url http://webjunction.org/forums/thread.jspa?threadID=3972 ]start something[/url] like this over in YA.

btw, those pesky "nobr" tags show up when you start introducing html tags in your posts. There's a longer explanation [url http://webjunction.org/forums/thread.jspa?threadID=3703&tstart=0 ]here[/url].

Banned Book Display
We pulled as many popular books that were banned and the most unpopular and displayed these titles in a glass case display cube. We wrapped the books in yellow caution tape. Easy display, and lot's of comments.
Sue Hansen
Adult Services Programming Coordinator
Broome County Public Library
Binghamton, New York

Yellow caution tape is such a great display device. It gets people's attention immediately. They just can't help stopping to see what's going on.

I love the idea of a banned book display but have never actually done one myself. I always seem to let September go by without putting one up. What time of year did you do yours? I imagine it could be effective any time of year. People are always amazed at what has been banned.

I, too, am interested in the "unpopular books". Please elaborate.

Thanks for sharing!

Adult Summer Reading Safari - A really neat theme with a catchy display! You're way ahead of me. I can't seem to get it together for a summer reading program this year. Thanks for sharing.

The July-August 2006 [url http://www.bookmarksmagazine.com ]Bookmarks Magazine[/url] has a terrific article, <u>101 Crackerjack Sea Books</u> by Dean King. Many sea-loving experts made contributions to the list which includes such classics as Moby Dick, Mutiny on the Bounty, Master and Commander and the Hotatio Hornblower Series. The article inspired a Sea Display including books from the list and fiction titles with a sea-faring theme. A small ship model and picture of a sea adventure finsih the display. Inexpenise and certain to be popular. <p>
<img title="Sea Book Display" alt="short title of your picture" src= "http://static.flickr.com/61/171913779_90a3f04830_m.jpg"

We did this display for Banned Books Week and the most intrigued by it were the younger patrons, who were shocked to see some of their favorite books from childhood in the "cage".

Lise in Arizona

Attachments:

banned_books_display_002.jpg (361.1k)

Welcome Lise! I agree with Carol --the cage is a winner. That would get my attention from across the room.

I love all the creativity!. Please keep the pics and descriptions coming. Who says book displays are boring?

Carol, I continue to be super impressed by your energy and creativity. I now think that you could write a book, not just an article, on the topic. Have you ever thought of approaching [url http://www.ala.org/ala/ourassociation/publishing/alaeditions/writingforalaeditions/writing.htm ]ALA Editions[/url] with the idea? It all makes me wish I were an adult services librarian --I think I could get into this aspect of the job.

With winter fast approaching and the summer and fall harvest abundance, the art of canning and preserving, or putting stock by, still commands an audience as evidenced by Hall Memorial Library's book display. A few simple props and books make an appealing display. Note the missing book!<p>
<img title="Canning" alt="short title of your picture" src= "http://static.flickr.com/72/253842537_b696d4481a_m.jpg"

The play on words and the colors of the heading really communicate in this display. Nice discovery!

I thought some of the contributors to this topic might be interested in this solicitation from the PubLib list:

"American Libraries magazine is once again looking for your best Banned Books Week photo coverage for possible use in a one-page spread in the November issue. Forward your favorite digital images (300 dpi, at least 3 to 5 inches) to AmericanLibrariesProduction@ala.org by October 3.

Please include all pertinent information, such as identification of
those photographed, dates, and a brief explanation of the event.

Questions? Contact Pam Goodes at 312-280-4219, or pgoodes@ala.org."

It's really short notice! Anybody game?

Last night one of our young library assistant's asked me why I do book displays, how do I choose the books, topics and what makes for a winning display. Good question! She has been helping with these displays the past few months and has grown interested in their results. She wanted to know if displays help circulate titles that are languishing in our stacks. I agreed that this is one reason. Another is that it is just plain fun to come up with a theme, think up a way to present it and see how it goes. Sometimes my best laid plans have mixed success and at other times I can't keep the display stocked. When a display is very successful I might have trouble keeping it stocked from our small collection. This is one reason I try to think the display out a bit ahead of time. I will order books with a display in mind. Usually though, an idea hits and I just can't wait to do the display, come what may.

As to ideas for displays or themes they can come from anywhere. Frequently a booklist will be compiled on fiction_l that just begs to have a display. Other times a book will cross my desk and I think, oh, this would make a great display. This happened recently with the book 1916 by Morgan Llywelyn. It occured to me that many new titles have been published using numbers or years as the whole title. This inspired a small, but easy display called "Reading by the Numbers". Our assistant made a great sign to go with the display. I'll try to post a picture.

As for winning displays, I'm not certain why one flies and another does not. I'm hoping some of you will share your thoughts on this subject. What works for you, where do you get your ideas; how do you keep the display stocked, what kind of props do you use, how often do you change displays, how many do you have going at any time?

I've been waiting for these photos --thanks!

I think you could write an article about creating book displays. You obviously have a knack for putting together ideas and simple materials into something eye-catching. Possibly the very act of pulling some titles off the shelf and out where the cover is visible is enough of an innovation at most libraries. Patrons like the bookstore model.

I'm also curious about what makes or breaks a display. It's a great opportunity to pull in the [url http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/12.10/tail.html ]Long Tail[/url] of books that are not in the immediate eye of the public. Maybe the better you can make the connections between books (like Amazon's "you might also like ..."), the more you arouse the curiousity of the reader?

Keep up the good work.

The book Thinner Than Thou by Kit Reed happened to pass my desk the other day. Needing a quick display after dismantling my garden display, I decided to do a new one on diet books in both fact and fiction. I had a neat greeting card called DIET TIPS which starts with the lines "If no one sees you eat it, it has no calories" and ending with "Remember life is uncertain, eat dessert first". This seemed the perfect sign for this display. Adding an assortment of children's play food (nutritious food and junk food), some paper plates, napkins and diet scale to round out the display; it turned out colorful and fun. I used a list of fiction books compiled by the librarians of fiction_l and added a few of my own. Non-fiction titles are numerous and easy to find. Happy Reading & eating!<p>
<img title="Diet Tips" alt="short title of your picture" src= "http://static.flickr.com/95/210612159_0d4f7275d0_m.jpg"/>

Attending a meeting this morning at the Hall Memorial Library in Ellington, CT provided an opportunity to view 3 eye-catching book displays. The first had signage "Bake A Cake" and included whatelse but cake books and the tools needed to do just that! I knew there were great displays out there and have decided that whenever I visit another library I'll take my camera too so I may capture the creativity of my fellow librarians. Besides this entry please view the next 2 posts to see Ellington's other neat displays.<p>
<img title="Bake A Cake" alt="short title of your picture" src= "http://static.flickr.com/105/253842534_17a8f49f27_m.jpg"

As the adult cir. librarian at our library it is my responsibility to do monthly displays. The first display I did was called, "Take a New Author to Bed." I had posters that said things like "Who do you sleep with...King of Nightmares, Queen of Romance etc." photo attached. The display was very successful and a lot of the books had sat on our shelves for a long time moved...it was great!<p>
<a href= "http://www.flickr.com/photos/23571981@N00/385919665/" title="Photo Sharing"><img src= "http://farm1.static.flickr.com/157/385919665_b1a4c6bfdc_m.jpg" width="240" height="201" alt="Take An Author To Bed" /></a>

If a picture is worth a thousand words, this one is priceless! It certainly made my day! Please share some of the titles you used and tell a bit more how you were able to find the space for this display. I'm certain this one could win a contest. I've got to look but I think there's one going on now that you could enter.

Please continue to share your unique ideas!

Thanks for your kind words.

Some of the books from the display included:

Privileged Conversations by Evan Hunter
Whispers at Midnight by Karen Robards
Lambs of God by Marele Day
Before Sunrise by Diana Palmer
Thunder Horse by Peter Bowen

And the posters all said: "Who do you sleep with? King of Nightmares, Queen of Romance, Empress of Fantasy, Hard-nosed Reporter, Wild West Cowboy, Brainy Scientist, Time-Traveler...find a new author to take to bed this August at the Parachute Branch Library."

I will try to take more pictures of our displays.

Here is a display that I did last November for Adoption Awareness Month -- it was very popular. We had great attendance at the related program too.

Attachments:

adoption.jpg (323.6k)    BookDisplays_004.jpg (1,442.7k)

Living in the great state of Connecticut our library has many fine books about the state, many which languish on our shelves. I decided to do a display of some of these books for the month of March. I've included books on travel, history, mammals, reptiles, fishing, books by Connecticut authors, magazines, etc. I also included pamphlets and maps from our state.I hung our state flag over the display and quickly had a visually appealing display that has been circulating well.
<p>
<a href= "http://www.flickr.com/photos/23571981@N00/415667661/" title="Photo Sharing"><img src= "http://farm1.static.flickr.com/126/415667661_284dc15d96_m.jpg" width="164" height="240" alt="connecticut" /></a>

Message was edited by:
stewartd

Sally,
Thanks for stopping by and for your kind words. Hope you will post a picture in the future. It's always fun to see book displays that others are creating!

Crime scene tape has so many creative uses! For those of us needing some ideas for either displays or summer reading themes, you can't go wrong with these. Thanks for posting these photos and ideas from Sisters In Crime!