Using Booklist and Library Journal for Book Display Inspiration

As I have mentioned before, there is no reason to reinvent the wheel when it comes to book displays or finding ideas. Both Booklist and Library Journal regularly have ideas you can borrow and reshape to fit your own library's needs. While it may not be up to you if your library subscribes or not to either or both, even the headline of an article can help you with book display ideas. 

Library Journal has a feature called Display Shelf on their website. Often curated by Editor Melissa DeWild, these shelves are a great way to get ideas about what kind of fiction and non-fiction displays your library can put up. Don't feel pressure to include every book they have up; use the idea as a jumping off point and search your own collection for titles that will work. 

Booklist has articles on Essential reads in a particular subgenre or subject. There are also trend alerts which include books with subjects like Love & Sports. Even if you don't subscribe, you can be inspired by the titles of these lists. Booklist Online is not as expensive as other library databases so I would encourage you to inquire about an institutional subscription. It's a great resource for readers advisory and collection development. 

Another resource Booklist provides is High Demand Read Alikes. With titles like Slow-Burn Love Stories and Women in War, you should be able to find an idea when you are pressed to create a display but don't feel especially creative. They are also broad enough that finding some read alikes in your own physical and digital collection should be easy. 

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