Passively Recommending Books

  May has a variety of traditional and more adventurous reasons to set up book displays. Remember that you should use your programs and local events as inspiration as well.  Here are some suggestions for May book displays:  May Day- There are a variety of reasons to celebrate May day. It's the traditional start to summer. You could use Midsommer (the film) as an inspiration and include some non-fiction on wicca in addition to folk horror.  It's also International Workers' Day which would mean titles about the labor movement and work in general.  Star Wars Day: May the 4th be with you - Don't limit this display to just Star Wars films and titles. Look for other space operas in your collection which could use some exposure and put out some read alikes and watch alikes for Star Wars.  Mother's Day (2nd Sunday)- Besides the more obvious fiction and non-fiction about mother/child relationships and mothering in general, think about a "Bad Mothers" display. Books

Day one of PLA 2024 included the panel Anti-Racist Readers Services: Beyond the Basics, sponsored by NoveList, and presented by Becky Spratford (RA for All), Robin Bradford, and Yaika Sabat. Becky has kindly posted the the slides on her blog . Becky and Robin have a course with NoveList called Actively Anti-Racist Readers Services to Readers  if you would like to learn more.  A question was asked about diversity in regards to human bodies, specifically looking for books with characters who are plus size or curvy. There are readers and librarians who have curated lists that you can draw from to create lists for patron and staff use. Even publishers have created lists . The titles can be highlighted on your social media as well to draw attention to the fact that your collection includes titles like this and even that they exist at all. Include them in your book displays and lists.  Take clues from the titles of the lists you do find and improve your search. As you will see, the titles of

  Romance is in the air - and on the blog! As before, I am going to try to not repeat any of resources I listed before. Note that you can use many of them for a variety of genres.  There are so many romance book blogs! I will list a few here but if you are a fan or have a huge patron base for them, you might want to spend time searching for them.  Harlequin is one of the publishers even those who are unfamiliar with romance know. One of the most useful things on their site is what they call " favorite romance storylines " or what other people call tropes. They also talk about " miniseries " on their site which allow " readers to return to the same town, family or cast of characters to fall in love again and again!" There are non-Harlequin authors who do this. It would be a fun way to market your series fiction - call them a miniseries.  Smart Bitches, Trashy Books has been around for a long time. It includes a blog, book reviews, book suggestions, and a p

  We all have to provide readers advisory for genres we don't read. I have not yet found the high fantasy series that really draws me in. Everyone has those books they can't get into. There is nothing wrong with that - just don't make a big show of how much you don't like reading it.  Here are some sources for news and ideas about fantasy. Science fiction and fantasy are often grouped together so check the post about science fiction for more ideas. The posts about other genres may also have resources you can use for fantasy, you check them out.  For a primer on fantasy subgenres, try this article on The Portalist. Other sites like Book Riot also have them. Searching for any of the subgenres will pull up a lot of ideas you can use.  Goodreads has a page devoted to various genres. They include the most popular books from that genre as well as links to subgenres and related genres. Their fantasy page has new releases, videos, lists, giveaways, and tags that are relate

This is the first of some genre-focused posts. Rather than start with genres I know more about (romance and horror) I thought I would do the harder ones first so we are jumping off with science fiction. There is science fiction content on my post about general book content so check those sites as well if you are looking for science fiction book news.  Whether right or wrong, the worlds of science fiction and gaming seem to have an affiliation so I've included some gaming sites with book related content.  Also, if you have suggestions here, please let me know! The Portalist : A site run by Open Road Media (which operates other genre-focused sites like The Lineup ) focused on science fiction and fantasy. The focus is on backlist titles. There are a lot of articles with read-alikes and lists based upon a theme such as " Must Read Space Opera Books ." They also cover movies and TV shows along with weird news that will appeal to fans of the genre.  Book Riot has science fictio

Listed below are some sites where you can find information about books in general including lists, reviews, and feature articles. There is content on most of them about the various genres of fiction as well so keep that in mind. Obviously, I haven't listed all sites imaginable but let me know if there is a great one I missed! My suspicion is that I will need to make a part two of this! Barnes & Noble may seem like an odd choice but their blog has great ideas you can use to market your library's collection. Book Riot has podcasts, feature articles, newsletters and more. It's definitely a site many avid readers are using for information. Entertainment Weekly has book reviews  as well as book news and lists. You can also curate a book display by looking at what is popular in other areas of entertainment. "Books to read if you love [popular television show]" as an example.  Esquire has book content including lists, interviews,  and best of the year content for g

You don't have to come up with new ideas every time you change out a book display or create a book list. Use the headlines from all of the marketing emails publishers send you as a jumping off point. Just take the basic idea and use what you have in your collection that is not moving and go from there.  As an example, Off the Shelf from Simon & Schuster offered these list ideas:  12 Addictive Reads You Can Finish in a Single Flight:  6 Upcoming Releases Everyone Will Be Talking About This Year 11 Books That Are Guaranteed Page Turners For the first one, you can add audiobooks or links to your eAudiobook collection. The theme could be a car trip or a single evening/weekend. If you decide to go with upcoming releases, the library's holds/reserve list can be promoted. Add cover images from those titles you want to promote and include a QR code to your catalog where patrons can place a hold. Upcoming titles does not mean those titles that are guaranteed to be a bestseller. Wo

  I read fairly broadly every year but my December LibFaves are always horror focused. While EarlyWord has changed to a spreadsheet for this year (see their website for details), I thought I would curate my list here of what were my favorite horror reads in 2023. Are they the best of the year? I don't know! That's someone else's list. Also, a few people do have more than one entry. I couldn't decide and it's my list.  They aren't in any order.  Bad Cree by Jessica Johns (Doubleday): A story filled with complex female relationships as Mackenzie, a young Cree woman,  tries to deal with her sister Sabrina's death. Eventually, her intense dreams, filled with violence, drive her home to Alberta where she and her family must face their guilt and grief. This is coming of age horror and grief horror. I love a story with a core of female relationships not built around the men in their lives. With this debut, Jessica Johns shows great promise.  Chapman Chapbooks #1-3 

This is an easy way to harness pop culture to move your backlist. There are no right answers as to what books fans of a certain show might like because what draws people to a television show or movie is different. Use your collection and involve staff, any staff, who are fans of that show or movie. If the first one you choose makes it difficult to find enough items, add a second one and create your own version of the Barbie/Oppenheimer mashup “Barbenheimer.”  An alternative way to harness excitement about a show or movie is to come up with a display highlighting titles that characters from the show would like. Again, there are no right answers. You can allow patrons to suggest titles if you wish for it to be a passive program as well.  You can also use the setting or time period from a particular show as the basis for a book display. Expand it to include other books and movies that take place in the same location as well as travel and non-fiction about that place. An easy example would

  Of course there are a number of holidays this month. Please don't neglect to put up a winter/snow sort of display to balance things out for those who don't celebrate Christmas. There are a number of romance and horror titles which focus on winter and snow. Mysteries, particularly those by Scandinavian authors (Scandi Noir) are also good options if you are looking for fiction.  Consider knitting, winter decor, and travel narratives from wintery places. There are plenty of wintery DVDs which could be added as well.  Beyond Christmas, Hanukkah, and Kwanza, there is Yule and Winter Solstice to consider. Set up displays of paranormal romance, occult horror, urban fantasy, and non-fiction books about wicca, the occult, and related subjects.  In 1997, the show Seinfeld introduced Festivus to everyone. Do you have books that are based around complaints? Titles that you think various Seinfeld characters would love? Use your imagination and even set up a Festivus pole! December 1 is ce

  Libraries aren't the only places to find great book displays and book lists. Independent book stores often have staff who are passionate about the books they love and clever at coming up with compelling book displays that put the focus on getting great books faced out so their customers can discover them. Take a look at your local indie bookstore or check out the websites and social media accounts of stores across the country. See how they use humor and unexpected combinations to promote and market the books in their stores. Give them credit if you borrow their ideas and include details about how your patrons can find them.  One of my favorites is Gibson's Bookstore in Concord, NH. You can view their displays on their Instagram account for some inspiration. Their displays are book focused, clever, and memorable. One of their more genius ideas is that their past displays and curated book lists are available on their website. If a customer saw a title on a display but missed

  This where I say-  use what I have here or don't. Whatever. There are many options for this kind of generational display. You could look for books published during a defined time period, for Gen X  you could use the late 70's through late 90's. But don't be doctrinaire, there are plenty of books by members of Generation X that are set during that time period or which have the sense or flavor of that generation. If someone else on staff disagrees with your choices, invite them to add their own choices. Ask patrons for their suggestions on your social media or in your library. You can add some non-fiction about significant events that took place in the 80's and 90's. There are plenty of examples of terrifying things that took place during those years. Also, check your DVD collection and add some of those. Goosebumps was first published in 1992... For a passive program, add one for Baby Boomers, Millennials, and Gen Z. Let your patrons fight it out and read some

One of the things I repeat over and over is that people love to sit at the beach and read about about the pain and suffering of others. The Horror Writers Association along with  United for Libraries , Book Riot , and Booklist has created an entire program for libraries called Summer Scares . There are titles picked for adults, young adults, and middle grade readers. Click here for more information from Becky Spratford on her blog, RA for All Horror .  In that vein, I would like to show how you can use horror tied with beachy themes for a fun summer book display that will draw patrons in. The two titles I'm using are forthcoming releases but you can use the idea with whatever your library's collection holds. Don't forget to add titles from suspense, thrillers, and non-fiction to create a display; never get hung up on genre.  I've made summer displays like this with all kinds of horror, suspense, and thrillers.  In September, Quirk will release What Kind of Mother by Cl

  The recent Barnes and Noble pre-order sale received a lot of attention from authors and book buyers. Pre-orders can be vital to a book's success, with strong pre-orders showing that there is interest in a title.Why mention it to library workers interested in book displays? Use the idea of pre-orders to market your holds list. Assuming that every patron knows that you have a request service for physical and digital titles is a mistake. Because we spend so many hours at the library, it can be easy to forget that many things are unknown to patrons. Some patrons may have forgotten that they can place a hold request for a popular title, receiving a notification when it is available for them.  In many libraries, as soon as a title is "on order" in the ILS, patrons can start putting holds on it. Hold requests also give your acquisitions department an idea about demand for a particular title. Create a display with cover photos, information about how holds work, ways they can be

  Growing up can be hazardous as noted by the many coming of age horror books. This popular theme is part of what makes Wasps in the Ice Cream by Tim McGregor such a great read. The listless summer of 1987 finds Mark Prewitt spending time with friends he's not sure that he likes anymore, working two part-time jobs to restore an old car, and mooning after one of the hot girls in school. The Farrow sisters are part of a strange, reclusive family, subject to rumor and the hatred of the other people in their small town. After he participates in a prank pulled on the Farrow sisters, Mark decides to try to make amends. He is drawn into their world, especially that of the middle sister, George. When their secret relationship is exposed, Mark has to choose between his friends and the world he and George have created.  Beyond coming of age and the late 80's, the book also has themes of aliention and  small towns, outsiders, family secrets, alienation and disaffection. There are also Sa

  It's likely your library has put up a book display or list related to Black History Month . If you look at the official US government site and review the exhibits page, you will see a huge variety of topics. There are exhibits on educators, visual artists, theatre, dress, folklife, colleges, literature, music and religion. Use these exhibits as a place to start your own displays and lists for Black History Month. In addition to displays focusing on slavery and the Civil Rights Movement, use this month to introduce patrons to titles in your collection that can allow them to see parts of Black history that they might not be familiar with. There are topics like t he Harlem Renaissance  , Black cowboys , Black entrepreneurs , Black scientists , and more. GLAAD has information on Black LGBTQ history . Don't forget to see what your local history collection has about history in your city, state, or region.  The most popular display I have ever put up in February was related to Blac