Library Diary

Dear Library Diary,

What a traumatic day I'm having.  Currently I'm in the middle of two book displays...TWO.  Both of them so hard and tasking to complete.  The first one is a display for food books, aptly titled Food, GLORIOUS, Food.  What with Thanksgiving right around the corner and Christmas, too, I thought our aspiring young chefs at Uni might like some cookery books to peruse.  I've managed to cull fiction, non-fiction, and graphic novels for the display.  But, THEN, when I came in to work today, my thoughtful co-worker, Paul, had placed a copy of Michael Pollan's Cooked on the circ desk for me.  He knew it would be good for the display, and he knew I would like to look through it, too.  I do enjoy Michael Pollan immensely, but now all I want to do is read the book, not work.  Oh, woe is me.  Librarian problems! 

Then, after shifting some displays around, we now have room for THREE different displays to be going at once.  Fun, yes?  Well, sure, but NOW I have to come up with a new Author Spotlight display.  Supervisor Amy suggested Neil Gaiman, which will result in one of the most well-rounded displays I've done, since it will include novels, graphic novels, and picture books.  Neil Gaiman?  Really!?  I have to spend the day looking up information on Neil Gaiman, the man who encourages parents to always read to their children, and everyone to read, read, READ as much as they can. I also have to look up images of him for the display signage? 

UGH!  This job is ridiculous!  Librarian problems ALL DAY, son!

Here's to a better day tomorrow, Library Diary,
amanda

Grab Your Tissue

Here's another Pinterest display enacted in the Uni High Library.  It is probably the simplest, most basic display you could ever do, and it is all about...the feelings.

It's October.  It's one of my favorite months: it gets chilly, you get to eat chili, you get your warm sweaters out, but in this area October can also include dark, dreary, rainy days...which I LOVE.  Those are perfect days to read, and they are also perfect days to wallow in the misery of tragic characters, heartache, and lost love.

My Tissue Box display was super easy to implement.  All you need are a couple of boxes of tissue and lots of sad books.  Now, working in a high school is a perfect place for this tragic display, because in high school, girls (yes, I'm stereotyping and saying "girls") love to feel all the feelings: we love to cry, disparage, and wallow in misery.  I did a poll on Facebook to see what books had made my friends cry throughout their lives, and the responses ranged from picture books to Nicholas Sparks romance to war novels.  I tried to get as many of their suggestions up as I could, but many were already checked out or not available to us.  (And, I do love that a lot of them were checked out!  That's a good problem to have!)

I do wish we would have some picture books on this display, because Shel Silverstein's The Giving Tree and Robert Munsch's Love You Forever make me cry harder than almost anything.  I think it's good for students to re-visit their favorite books from their youth, too, so maybe when/if I get a job in a middle or high school I'll try to use some part of my budget for picture books.  I am also a firm believer in picture books being for EVERYONE.

If you need a quick display to do during a dark, dreary time, try this one.  It's also great, AND EASY, for an ELA classroom.  Let me know how it goes if you try it out!  (And, tell me what books you added to your display!)