If you need a good idea for a fill-in book display, you can always return to the many reading challenges that pop-up in December and January. These challenges sometimes have an overall theme based upon a genre and sometimes they are very broad. Each month, a prompt to read a certain kind of book is presented. "Read a book that takes place in [city/country]" or '"read a book There are months where readers will struggle to find a title. In addition, some readers will discover a reading challenge that they didn't know existed. This might be an idea you reserve until June when you can set it up a half way through the challenge theme. While I am on record as advising against too many signs and decorations on a display, remember to include information about the challenge and where patrons can find out more.
Your book clubs can use these challenges for those months where there is a struggle to agree upon a title. There are challenges which focus on books by particular groups of authors such as queer authors or Black authors in addition to genre focused ones.
These challenges are also a great way to get some attention focused on your back list.
Here are some challenges you can use:
- The Candid Cover has what is perhaps the most comprehensive list of reading challenges. Olivia has done a magnificent job providing a wide variety of challenges including those for kids, those on Instagram, and bingo reading challenges.
- Goodreads has an annual challenge that may be appealing for those readers who use the site. It's centered around readers picking a goal as to how many books they will read for the year. Some find this approach invigorating and drives them to read more and some find that it just causes anxiety. You can suggest novellas or shorter non-fiction to help patrons "catch up." The Carnegie-Stout Public Library (Iowa) has their own version of this type of challenge.
- Book Riot titles their annual challenge "Read Harder." There are 24 ideas to help readers "explore settings, characters, formats, genres, and perspectives that might be outside of your reading norms" The New York Public Library created a list of suggestions in December that you can use to springboard your own suggestions.
- The Massachusetts Center for the Book has a reading challenge that would work for any genre of fiction as well as non-fiction. Your local consortia, county system etc can create one for you patrons as part of a larger program.
- Pop Sugar has a popular reading challenge. There are 45 reading prompts for the year and 5 advanced prompts. This kind of challenge may appeal to those who like to gamify their reading or those looking for a challenge that allows the reader to pick from a list rather than be limited to just one.
