Five for Friday - Baking Edition

While I emphasize over and over that bestselling/titles with many holds don't need our help, I know there are libraries and times when your supervisor or board may want a hot title used in your social media. My suggestion is to use that book to draw attention to other books. In the picture below, I have put Milk Street Bakes in a stack with four older books. At my library, cookbooks by Milk Street always have holds. I have placed it in this image with four other books including a book about Kwanzaa and a book by a black author. Given that Hanukkah and Kwanzaa have not ended, including books about both would be appropriate. Also, those celebrating any holiday can use other cookbooks to prepare baked goods for their celebrations. Keep cookbooks in mind for any cultural heritage month, by the way. It is the most popular display I put up for Black History Month. 

 

Five for Friday - Alternative Dishes for Thanksgiving

 One easy way to promote your collection is to have staff take turns selecting 5 books on a theme from your collection, take a photo of them and post it to your social media. If you make it a regular feature, patrons may look for it and find their next great read. Set up a calendar and let different people from throughout your library get a chance to pick their five books. 

One display I try to put up every year is a selection of cookbooks for Thanksgiving that contain recipes outside of the usual options. Include vegan, vegetarian, international, and cookbooks for those with special health concerns. This will show off your cookbook collection while giving patrons ideas if they are seeking something unique to serve. 

As an example, I have several photos of cookbooks below with a simple fall themed picture behind them. You could add text explaining the theme and have just the first photo or add photos like I did below with each book shown faced out. Let your patrons know that you have a wide variety of cookbooks and give them some out of the box ideas for their holiday celebration.