April: Quotes, Quotes, Quotes Display

You may have seen the article on Buzzfeed featuring "28 of the Most Beautiful Libraries in the World" along with a quote about libraries on each image. I first saw this article on Facebook and I shared it on our library facebook page. A few weeks later it came to my attention again from our Library Director. The middle school librarian suggested we turn it into a display, such a great idea. I went ahead and created the following display with it as my inspiration.

I started by creating a resource list of every book the library had by the authors who's quotes were featured in the article. We only had about 22 of the 28 (although Mark Twain is repeated). I then found books in our collection on quotes and added these. Our library parent volunteer is so helpful when it comes to displays, she pulled all the books from the list and found more books that fit the overall theme of the display.

I then typed up all the quotes from the article that we had matches of books by author for. This was tedious, but necessary for what I had in mind for the display. (I am sure I could have searched for the quotes and then copy and pasted them, but hindsight....) I created quote bubbles in Photoshop and made them different colors. I put one quote in each bubble:

 I also typed up some of the quotes by "anonymous" to use as extra decor. I then printed out blank quote bubbles to place around the edge of the display. Out goal was to get students to write their favorite quote about libraries in the blank quote bubbles. I wrote in a few of the bubbles directions for the students to write their own quote:

A volunteer and I cut out all the quotes and quote bubbles. She then taped the matching quote to the corresponding book by the author. We taped all the blank quote bubbles and the ones with the directions around the edges of the display. We taped the three anonymous quotes around the edges as well. I then wrote a quote in one of the bubbles and so did our parent volunteer (To show the students what we meant).

For signage I created one that told the students about the display and asked them to write a quote, it also had a QR code that links to the article we were inspired by.

To advertise our display I made a second image for use on our website and facebook page:

Please feel free to use any of the signage. I hope this inspires you to view the article and create a display!

April: Book Spine Poetry

April is National Poetry Month, to celebrate we have created a book spine poetry display. This is our second year creating this display and it has only grown in popularity with our students. Last year we dedicated one bookcase to the display and by the end of the two week display period we had piles of books sitting on nearby tables because they wouldn't fit in the bookcase. This year we dedicated two bookcases to the display, it has been up for one week so far and we only have two spots left for poems, crazy!

The first time we created the display none of the students had ever heard of book spine poetry before. I wanted to encourage them to give it a try and also show examples of what a book spine poem was. I accomplished this in three ways. First I created a book spine poetry board on our library pinterest page. I then created a sign that said "need inspiration?" and I provided a QR code that would take you to the book spine poetry examples.:

Second I made fake books out of construction paper and then I wrote titles of books on them and stacked them to make fake poems. I taped these fake books to the back of the bookcase shelves, it was a great way to show examples while leaving the shelves clear for the students work.

The third thing I did was make small quote bubbles that said things like "place your poem here", "Create a poem", "Your poem goes here".... Just another way to encourage the students. I unfortunately did not save the quote bubbles with the text in it, but I did save the blank ones. You can open these in Paint and write your own words of encouragement:

Once a student created a poem they would put their name on it. I made small pockets out of construction paper and put a note on it saying "Name cards" and then in some of the quote bubbles I wrote "don't forget to add your name," I then made some note cards for them to write their names on and then place the card on top of the poem.

For signage I wrote out letters saying "Make a Poem" for the top of the bookcase. and then I had a sign explaining the display on one of the shelves.

This has been an extremely successful display. I hope you give it a try at your library. Please feel free to use any of my signage!