Unshelving September - Making a Plan in Advance

 September is the start of the autumn season and school is rolling into session. It's also the build up to spooky season for everyone who loves Halloween. I did a September post in 2024 and the information there is mostly still applicable. One change is that Islam, like Judaism, follows a lunar calendar. The holidays in Islam change months year to year. Malwid is in August this year.  

Here is a general list of September celebrations. 

Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur are September 11 and 20, respectively. Rosh Hashanah is the Jewish New Year. It is the first day of the Days of Awe which end with Yom Kippur or the Day of Atonement.  It is a time for self-reflection, introspection, forgiveness, and accepting forgiveness.
Books on these topics can be used to enhance a book display or fill in as titles are checked out. 
Here are some book lists:

Chicago Public Library - Rosh Hashanah Books
PBS Kids- Picture Books That Celebrate Rosh Hashanah
Jewish Book Council - High Holidays
Hey Alma - 17 Books That Will Get You in a Reflective Mood This High Holiday Season

Library Card Sign Up Month is celebrated in September. 

You can use the theme of this year to highlight your books and DVDs about music as well as CDs and music streaming services. ALA has sample proclamations and other resources including social media graphics here. 

There are a number of food related celebrations in September. Beyond cookbooks, you can use fiction with that food in the title. 
National Gyro Day - September 1 (You can expand this to any Greek food)
World Coconut Day - September 2
National Cheese Pizza Day - September 5
World Samosa Day - September 5
National Peanut Day - September 13
Fortune Cookie Day - September 13
Eat a Hoagie Day - September 14
National Cheeseburger Day - September 18
Ice Cream Cone Day - September 22
National Drink a Beer Day - September 28
National Coffee Day - September 29

With Celebrate Bisexuality or Bi Visibility Day on September 23, how you handle it depends on your community, library, and local/state laws. One way is to set up a romance display and focus on books with bisexual characters. 
Arapahoe Libraries -  Bi-Bi-Bi! Romance Books With Bisexual Main Characters
Meet Cute Romance Bookshop- The Bi(sexual)s Have It: Bi Characters in Great Romance Novels
Goodreads - Bisexual Romance Books
For those looking to expand this display, look at the Lambda Literary Awards which have  bisexual fiction and bisexual non-fiction categories. 

World Translation Day is September 30. Search your collection for books in translation. You can even have a tiny display on a service desk with an easel. Add a new book when one gets checked out. 

September 30 is also  International Podcast Day. Your collection may include books about how to start a podcast or editing. Add books from these lists to make a display: 

Goodreads - Books By or Related to Podcasts and Podcasters
Bookshop.org - Books by women podcasters
Brooklyn Public Library - 20 Books By Your Favorite Podcast Hosts
Cambridge Public Library - Podcasts that wrote books
Reddit - Best books written by Podcasters
              Podcasts that also have a book

 

Unshelve with Library Journal - Display Shelf | Ancient Stories

 Library Journal is here to remind us that when a movie the The Odyssey catches patrons' attention, we can use that interest to help draw attention to library collections. On August 5, they featured stories set in ancient times for fans of The Odyssey. The post includes a link to a spreadsheet with more titles than featured on their graphic. Don't do extra work when journals help you out with features like this. 

Unshelve With Help from the New York Times Again - Best Thrillers Edition

The New York Times has a list of the 50 Best Thriller Books up on their website. (Should be a gift link) The list was compiled with the help of authors, librarians, editors, critics and Bookstagrammers. The list is helpful for collection development but I would suggest that you look at the read-alikes for each book that are listed below the description. You can use the list and the read-alikes to set up a generic thriller display. They are very popular now and some time on a display will help any titles that are lacking checkouts to find their reader. 

Another way you can use them is to pick one of the titles and use it for a more focused display around setting, theme, or plot. There are books like Jar of Hearts with complicated, messy women or Tell No One with its story of a spouse who died (or did she?) You can search for similar books as the read-alikes in the description to come up with a full display. 

A final idea for a display based upon this list is to look at how the authors and other book people voted and use their choices to create a display. Readers love recommendations from celebrities. Note the celebrities on the sign if you would like and update it if you have to change out the books. This sort of display would be a great idea for a small display on a service desk or near a catalog computer. 

Unshelving for Small Libraries - One Author Shelfies

 

Not every library has room or funds for a dedicated display space. There are many alternatives. A fun alternative is to put a picture of several authors' titles in the stacks and post it on your social media. Put those titles on a service desk or on a library cart with a sign that says "This week's shelfies." 

Change it out weekly. You can even move to non-fiction titles by selecting a niche subject area or biographical subject. The space and time commitment are both minimal but it does allow you to showcase the depth and breadth of your collection. 

As an example, I have included photos of two authors perfect for Summerweek - Clay McLeod Chapman and Rachel Harrison. 

Using the NYT Book Review Book Club To Unshelve

 It seems as if every celebrity and news organization has their own book club. It is certainly possible to use them to create a book display - read alikes for the current pick and for past picks. If circulation has dropped off on the backlist of picks, you can display them as well. Today, I am going to focus on the New York Times Book Review Book Club that airs on their podcast with reader comments on an online post. 

For July, they read John of John by Douglas Stuart. The book club post is here and the podcast post is here. You can use the book club picks as a way to create a book club, even if you don't have the staff time. Patrons could gather to discuss the book and even listen to the podcast together. The most useful part of the podcast for me is the read-alikes that the participants suggest. For John of John, the books mentioned were: 

• “Shuggie Bain” and “Young Mungo,” by Douglas Stuart
• “What We Can Know,” by Ian McEwan
• “The Banshees of Inisherin,” directed by Martin McDonagh
• “The Keeper,” by Tana French
• “A Natural,” by Ross Raisin
• “The Spell,” by Alan Hollinghurst
• “Seascraper,” by Benjamin Wood
• “Whale Fall,” by Elizabeth O’Connor
• “Clear,” by Carys Davies
• “Wuthering Heights,” by Emily Brontë
• “Persuasion,” by Jane Austen
• “Washington Square,” by Henry James
• “The Town of Babylon,” by Alejandro Varela
• “Memorial,” by Bryan Washington

Look beyond these specific titles by looking at read-alikes for them that could have a connection to the title they are reading. This will give you enough titles for a full display, especially if you add past book club picks. 

The next title they are reading is London Falling by Patrick Radden Keefe. They have suggested resources on the announcement page. I've tried to include gift links here, by the way. 

Unshelve Your Weird Girl Fiction

 According to BookRiot, there is a new book trend which has developed on TikTok - Weird Girl Fiction. They describe it as: 

In fact, there’s a new one that has recently emerged on TikTok, no less: weird girl fiction, or weird girl lit. Weird girl fiction is commonly defined as books that elicit “unhinged female rage” and “transgress social norms.”

 While the terms can be problematic, these novels exhibit an unconventional, unhinged, or dark tone. In My Year of Rest and Relaxation, isolation and self-destruction are the central themes. 

There are some books listed in their article but I will include some more below. Because it crosses and blends genres, it also is part of the greater trend of genre blending. 

Reddit has a entire subreddit about it - https://www.reddit.com/r/weirdgirlliterature/ The image at the top of the subreddit can give you inspiration for your signage. 

Here are some other lists to help get you started: 

Daniel Boone Regional Library: Weird Girl Fiction

The Spinoff: What is ‘weird girl lit’ – and why is it trending right now?

Instagram: The Definitive Weird Girl Lit Reading Guide

Henrico County Public Library: Weird Girl Fiction 

Crime Reads: Weird Girl Lit Galore: 10 Novels

Denver Public Library : Weird Girl Fiction

Goodreads: Weird Woman Fiction

Unshelve With Your Area Code

 The local tourism marketing organization for my county is among the groups who encourage locals to celebrate "727" on July 27. This is our area code and the idea is to celebrate the local culture, history, and community.  There are local deals and so forth available to those who live within the county. 

You can take this idea and pick a week that matches your own area code.  Use it to focus on books about local history, culture and food. For some places (Maine, New Hampshire) there is one area code for the state which gives you many options. For others, it may be limited to a city. 

Set up a display with signage that echoes the date (Celebrating [area code]). With some planning, it may be possible to involve local businesses. Local bakeries or coffee shops can recommend books or do pairings with different treats or drinks. This can be posted in the library as well as in their establishments. Ask local civic, government, and community leaders for their reading suggestions and use that as a social media post or display. 

This is a great theme to take out of your library, unshelving the library to your community. There are always people who need to be reminded about the services and items your library offers. Bringing information about your digital services is a great topic for this sort of unshelving. This will increase your users and those who are invested in your library. 

Don't forget to look outside of any special local collection you have to include fiction by authors from the area,  biographies of people from the area, and non-fiction related to your area. If you have movies filmed locally or about local issues in your collection, add them as well.