Hurricane display 2017

We've had a lot of requests this week for books about hurricanes - mostly from parents who'd like to explain what's going on in the news to their children. So, I decided to put together a hurricane display. To be totally honest, it initially felt a bit... macabre? But, people have been asking, so following Ranganathan's Fourth Law: Save the Time of the Reader, I put together some titles. And the feedback has been really nice, people appreciate it. 

Our top two shelves feature, of course, books on hurricanes and extreme weather.

Keywords:
Hurricanes/Floods/Weather/Disasters

Dewey Call Numbers:
551.52

On the bottom shelf, I thought of the wisdom of Mr. Rogers who would say, “When I was a boy and I would see scary things in the news, my mother would say to me, 'Look for the helpers!"



Keywords:
Coast Guard/Rescue/Emergency/Police/Fire fighters/Paramedics

Dewey Call Numbers:
362.18, 363.286, 363.34, 628.9, 629.133, 629.225

I remember when I was in Austin, TX, during Hurricane Katrina, we offered free library cards for evacuees. Having access to library computers was a lifeline for many during that time.

Pride display

I put together this display in our YA area for Pride Month. I was glad we have such a nice selection of titles!

Build A Better World display

Summer reading is in full swing! This year's theme is "Build a Better World." Here is a phenomenal display put together by some of my staff. We invited patrons to write how they would "build a better world" on our bulletin boards. People left some very inspiring and heart-warming messages!

Very Hungry Caterpillar Display

Here's a display I've been meaning to share for quite some time. I got this idea from Pinterest, and it turned out just as great as I hoped. It was simple and fun to put together -  all made from paper lanterns I picked up at my local party store. The toughest part was affixing the caterpillar's eyes - the glue wouldn't hold. I ended up very carefully sewing them on. Oh... and the second toughest part was climbing up and down on a ladder and using fishing line to hang this up. I'm really happy with how The Very Hungry Caterpillar display turned out. I got lots of compliments on this one!

Citizenship Corner display

My library is partnering with the Department of Immigration to provide a "Citizenship Corner" with free materials on how to become a U.S. citizen. I helped a gentleman the other day who barely spoke English… he was looking for books on United States history. When I walked him over to the Citizenship Corner and gave him a free set of flashcards on the citizenship exam in Spanish, I thought he might cry with joy he was so happy! What a great feeling, connecting patrons to exactly what they want, even when they aren't sure how to ask for it.

Zombie display

Yay! It's my favorite time of year... Halloween. Just to mix things up, I created a Halloween display of zombie-themed items for all ages. We included titles like:

Picture books:
Zombielina - Kristyn Crow
Zombie in Love - Kelly DiPuccio

Chapter books:
Zombie Chasers series - John Kloepfer
Stink and the Midnight Zombie Walk - Megan McDonald

Teens:
Zom-B series - Darren Shan
Forest of Hands and Teeth - Carrie Ryan

Adults:
The Walking Dead - Robert Kirkman
Pride and Prejudice and Zombies - Seth Grahame-Smith

Non-fiction:
The Encyclopedia of Survival Techniques - Alexander Stillwell
How to Make a Zombie: the Real Life (and Death) Science of Reanimation and Mind Control - Frank Swain 

Valentine's Display

Just for fun, I thought I'd put together a Valentine's Day display in my library's teen area of books featuring hearts on the cover. Here are a few to pick from:

The Future of Us - Jay Asher & Carolyn Mackler
Sweet Little Lies - Lauren Conrad
This Lullaby - Sarah Design
Triple Shot Betty's In Love - Jody Gehrman
The Lipstick Laws - Amy Holder
Tangled - Carolyn Mackler
After the Kiss - Terra Elan McVoy
The Glimpse - Claire Merle
Recovery Road - Blake Nelson
Twenty Boy Summer - Sarah Ockler
The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight - Jennifer E. Smith
All These Things I've Done - Gabrielle Zevin

Star Wars Reads Day

Tomorrow is Star Wars Reads Day. I've never quite understood why it isn't on May 4th. (May the Fourth be with you! Get it??) Okay, I'll stop with my dad jokes. This month I put together a display of all our Star Wars books and graphic novels for kids - they've been going like hotcakes!

Banned Books Week display

I love this display for Banned Books Week, at one of my favorite independent book stores, Little Shop of Stories. The "caution" tape is de rigueur but the BAN ALL THE THINGS! cartoon really makes this display stand out to me. Love it!

Happy Movember!

We set up this display at the library for November, aka, "Movember" and it's been a lot of fun. The main challenge is finding new books with faces on them to fill up the display when these check out. Oh, and also, not putting handlebar mustaches on every single one, since handlebar mustaches really are the most fun.

TARDIS library display

I'm pretty excited about the upcoming 50th anniversary of Doctor Who - so excited, I decided to put together a Doctor Who display at my library, transforming one of our display cases into a TARDIS. Inside, we put books on time travel, sci-fi, Doctor Who DVDs as well as books about the show. We also included biographies of historical figures featured on the show such as Madame Pompadour, Winston Churchill and Vincent Van Gogh. We included books by famous English authors mentioned on the show - Agatha Christie, Charles Dickens and Shakespeare's sonnets. I even put Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows in there, since the Doctor claimed to have read it before it was published.

So far, reaction has been very positive. A lot of Doctor Who fans have asked to take pictures with it, and we also get a lot of questions, "What is that blue box?" Bar none, I think this is one of my favorite displays ever.

Dr. Seuss Taxidermy

Good morning! Happy Dr. Seuss Day! I found these here items for sale... they could be yours for a cool million. 

Dr. Seuss created these whimsical sculptures of "unknown beasts" in the 1930's. The winning bid also includes a vacation to France to personally oversee their packing and shipping, of course.


In other Seuss news: I put up a display honoring Dr. Seuss at my library, and it's already been completely picked over! Between picture books, beginning readers, some shelved under "Seuss," some under "LeSeig," and a few under "Geisel," as well as the Cat in the Hat science spin-offs by Bonnie Worth and Tish Rabe, we really have a lot more Seuss than what most would think. It's kind of gratifying to think of folks all over town reading his works for his birthday.

Book Tree

File under: I wish I had thought of this. One of my co-workers created this book-themed tree by laminating print-outs of book covers to use as ornaments. I love it!

Spring Cleaning!

The library where I'm working at now has been without a children's librarian for some time. One of the first things I noticed was how neglected the children's area seemed. I've been doing some spring cleaning... the first thing to tackle is signs!

Here's what used to serve as signage for the children's corner.

Here's my replacement.

What a difference, no?

Green display

A short while ago, I put together a display of "green" books.  One unexpected benefit of this was most of the books covers were either green, paper-bag brown, or white.  It made a really nice unified look.

 

One of the hottest items on the display, by far, was this Cool Crafts series by Carol Sirrine put out in 2010 by Snap Books. Titles like Cool Crafts with Old Jeans, and Cool Crafts with Old T-Shirts were impossible to keep on the shelf, but the others in the series: Cool Crafts with Wrappers Cans and Bottles and Cool Crafts with Old CDs were pretty popular too.

Interested in putting together your own green themed display?  It's not hard.  Check the non-fiction under Dewey numbers 333.72 and 640 first, but don't overlook other areas too.  There are titles cataloged under nearly every subject that may tie-in to the theme.  Throw in some classic picture books like The Lorax and Bill Peet's Wump World, and mix it up with newer titles like 10 Things I Can Do to Help My World by Melanie Walsh (2008), OK, Go by Carin Berger (2009) or We Planted a Tree by Diane Muldrow, illustrated by Bob Staake (2010).  There's lots of middle-grade fiction featuring a green theme too.  Just Grace Goes Green by Cherise Mericle Harper (2009), Judy Moody Saves the World by Megan McDonald, illustrated by Peter Reynolds (2002), Mallory Goes Green by Laurie Friedman, illustrated by Jennifer Kalis (2010) or Watch out World, Rosy Cole is Going Green by Sheila Greenwald (2010).

This display was in a high-traffic area of the library, where mixing the age-ranges for materials made a lot of sense.  Check your OPAC for terms like "sustainable living," "recycling'" and "enviromental protection," and see what comes up.

Cool bookshelf

The David Garcia Studio has this piece displayed at the Royal Danish Art Academy. In part, they were inspired by the idea, "How can an individual travel with it’s own library, given that books are so heavy? This is something we can all relate to when moving house." Having moved recently, I can attest that books are frequently the heaviest things one owns. Maybe it's a blessing in disguise that most of my book collection was recently lost to a flood?

I've got quite a knack for walking and reading at the same time, if I do say so myself. Navigating with this rolling bookshelf seems like it would be quite a challenge, though! I much prefer a more relaxed take... check out this second picture.

How heartwarming!

It's always nice when people say nice things about you... or when you have the opportunity to say nice things about them!


Art teacher Katrina Alexy mentioned the children's art display we coordinated for the library recently in the Pilgrim School on-line newsletter.

It's mission time in 4th grade, which means that every 4th grader is assigned a California Mission to study. The 4th graders have been working hard on their observational skills creating unique pastels that focus on one aspect of their mission's architecture. Some students chose the bell towers to focus on, while others chose a fountain and courtyard all while employing their knowledge of pastel mixing, blending, and texturizing. These will go on display at the Silver Lake Library in April, but will first be displayed at Pilgrim. Madigan McGillicuddy, the Children's Librarian, tells me that “everyone in the community has been enjoying the art your students have shared in the Library... we get lots of compliments on their pieces all the time.” I am so proud of our students!

Books about libraries

To celebrate our new library, I put together a display of books that feature libraries, books or reading.

Here's a partial listing of titles I selected.

Three Stories You Can Read to Your Cat

by Sara Miller, illustrated by True Kelley

Houghton Mifflin

1997

Not about "books" per se, but I love the conceit. Sly, very humorous and probably the best use of notoriously difficult second person narration that I've ever seen.

Amelia Bedelia, Bookworm

by Herman Parish, illustrated by Lynn Sweat

Greenwillow

2003

Literal-minded Amelia Bedelia helps out at her local library and as can be expected, gets into tons of trouble by doing everything "by the book."

What Do Authors Do?

by Eileen Christelow

Clarion

1995

In cartoon format, demystifies the writing and publishing process for young readers.

That Book Woman

by Helen Henson, illustrated by David Small

Atheneum

2008

Inspired by a traveling librarian, a young Appalachian boy in the 1930's learns to read.

Born to Read

by Judy Sierra, illustrated by Marc Brown

Knopf

2008

Sam is addicted to reading.

My Librarian is a Camel

Margriet Ruurs

Boyd Mills Press

2005

This non-fiction title features full-color photos of kids around the world, eager to get books however they can.

The Library Dragon

by Carmen Agra Deedy, illustrated by Michael P. White

Peachtree Publishers

1994

Mrs. Lotta Scales, the new, suspiciously scaly librarian can get quite fired up when her books aren't treated right.

Johann Gutenberg and the Amazing Printing Press

by Bruce Kosceilniak

Houghton Mifflin

2003

The true story of how the printing press was invented, with background information about the origins of written language.

Maisy Goes to the Library

by Lucy Cousins

Candlewick

2005

Another solid addition to the very popular Maisy series. The bold outline pictures and the simple story line encourages print motivation as Maisy finds a book, and enjoys a storytime at the library.

You Read to Me, I'll Read to You

by Mary Ann Hoberman, illustrated by Michael Emberly

Little Brown

2001

Poetry for two voices, designed for adults to share with emerging readers.

The Wednesday Surprise

by Eve Bunting, illustrated by Donald Carrick

Clarion Books

1989

A child teaches her immigrant grandmother to read.

Wild About Books

by Judy Sierra, illustrated by Marc Brown

Knopf

2003

Zoo animals go wild over the bookmobile that comes to visit them.

Library Mouse

by Daniel Kirk

Abrams Books

2007

A shy mouse sneaks out at night to gift the library with his literary creations.

Book! Book! Book!

by Deborah Bruss, illustrated by Tiphanie Beeke

Arthur A. Levine Books

2001

Animals at the farm demand a library storytime.

Library Lion

by Michelle Knudsen, illustrated by Kevin Hawkes

Candlewick

2006

A lion is welcome to stay in the library... as long as he doesn't break any rules.