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Showing posts from January, 2021

Getting Ready for February - Black History Month

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  It's time to start thinking about Black History Month book displays. I will be posting pictures and ideas for the next few days.  I wanted to share one of the more popular ones I put up. This is devoted to biographies of black chefs and cookbooks by black authors.  It emptied out the library of all the books on the subject very quickly and I had to pivot to another topic.  When you are thinking about promoting various history/heritage months, think outside the box. Don't limit yourself. Think about your own city/town/community. Think local history. Think about culture in a broad sense.  Creating book displays is a good way to inventory your collection. If you can't find books for a display, your library might need to diversify its collection. There are always constraints due to collection development policy and budget but we can add books to represent our entire communities. Promoting them through passive readers advisory like displays, bookmarks, and lists will help your
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  On Politics and Book Displays My first instinct is to say "don't." It can be difficult and is usually not worth the amount of difficulty that you will face. However, it's totally acceptable to grab subjects from the news and toss up a book display. (Please make certain you know your library's policies and the thoughts of your administration if you have any second thoughts.) How do you break down a news event into subjects? In 2017, I put up an FBI themed display. I  used fiction and non-fiction titles. The sign simply had the FBI logo. You have the option of so many thrillers, romantic suspense, and mysteries. There are histories of the agencies and books about famous agents and cases.  No one complained and the display was successful in getting books into the hands of patrons.  This display in March of 2017 invited patrons to "Learn more about Russia." The books were mostly about modern Russia and Putin. Within a few days, the books on Putin were all