Unshelve Your Collection Using a Writers Conference - StokerCon 2026 Wrap Up

StokerCon is the premier horror and dark literature writers conference in the United States. Part of the convention is the presentation of the Bram Stoker Awards with categories including superior achievement in a novel and superior achievement in long non-fiction. The Horror Writers Association presents the conference but you don't have to be a member to attend. 

One of the highlights of the conference is Librarians Day which anyone with a ticket to the convention can attend. For more details and resources from Librarians Day, please visit Becky Spratford's blog. She is the co-chair of Librarians Day and secretary of the Horror Writers Association. 

The panels this year, just like very year, are very helpful and planned by librarians who work in libraries. The skills and information learned could be transferred to many genres and subject areas. Attendees learned about programming and upcoming titles while also attending a brainstorm session. Every year, I have the honor of interviewing the Guests of Honor, introducing library workers to authors who are shaping the future as well as those who have created works vital to the history of horror. This year the Guests of Honor included : 

Rachel Harrison (Author of Play Nice and Cackle)

Linda D. Addison (Award Winning Poet and author)

Billy Martin (Author of Exquisite Corpse)

John Shirley (Acclaimed cyberpunk/horror author)

James Tynion IV (Eisner Award-winning horror comic writer)

Ann VanderMeer (Editor and anthologist)

The librarians who purchased a ticket for Librarians Day were also able to attend the Mass Author Signing which grants you time to purchase book and get them signed from a huge number of authors. This is a great way to discover horror works that you may not have known about. They also could browse the dealers room which included small press publishers. If your library doesn't allow you to purchase titles directly from publishers, this is a good time to start that conversation. With the shake up of library purchasing, many of us are processing items in house. Finally, they were able to attend one of the highlights of the convention, the Final Frame short film festival. The winner this year, Scissors, was amazing. 

I've attended librarians day events for romance and mystery writers, The HWA's is the best of them, with programming and speakers who are focused on libraries and library workers. 

StokerCon is a great weekend with the Halloween People and I hope to see all of you there next year!

Five Book Display Basics To Help Start Your Unshelving Project

 This is a very brief presentation that I prepared for a smaller group of librarians.  It covers five best practices that I think every library worker should have in mind while they work on their book displays or online lists. 

I do have a more detailed version of book displays basics available for presentation. Please reach out if you are interested in starting to unshelve your collection. 

Unshelve your collection with Pride!

 It's June and time for displays for Pride to be placed in libraries and on library social media. There will be plenty of online lists and posts with titles by LGBTQ+ authors. Don't forget to check the Lambda Awards and the Stonewall Book Awards for ideas. While you are assembling books for your displays and lists, watch that you are including as much of the LGBTQ+ community as possible. You can use the various flags to identify books that focus on a particular community to help those patrons who are not ready to ask for help. Creating lists and bookmarks with suggested titles that patrons can access online or pick up is another way to support LGBTQ+ members of your community. 

History and biographies are popular in displays for any cultural heritage or awareness month but don't forget cooking, fiction, poetry, art, and films. Make your the titles you select as broad and possible and expansive. Remember, as I frequently say, your patrons are as curious as you are so don't sell them short. 

Here are some lists to get you started: 

Penguin Random House - The Ultimate LGBTQ+ Book List

Reddit - Book rec for pride month? 

Brooklyn Public Library - Pride Month Books for Adults

Hamilton East Public Library - A Reading List for Pride Month

Goodreads - Listopia > LGBTQIA+ books to read during pride month!!

UCF Libraries - LGBTQIA+ Pride Month

Always be planning how you will unshelve your collection

I have mentioned Novel Suspects, a newsletter from Hachette Book Group, before on my blog. Their lists are great starter ideas for book displays and online posts. Recently, they featured a list they called "Psychological Thrillers Featuring Couples Gone Wrong." While this is a display that could go up at any time, I would keep this idea on my list for February as an "anti-Valentine's Day" display. It would also work for Sweetest Day on the third Saturday in October. 

Planning ahead will make changing out your displays much easier and will avoid a panic if you can't immediately brainstorm ideas. Keep a calendar for every month and write down the ideas that you and the rest of your staff come up with all year. This will give you more options along with the holiday and programming linked displays that you likely set up. 

Passive readers advisory is an important part of your collection marketing plan. Retail stores plan their displays and marketing in advance and so should your library. 

Unshelve your collection with help from RA for All and the New York Times

 Don't be afraid to grab ideas for promoting your collection from anywhere and anyone. Recently, readers advisory expert Becky Spratford featured the New York Times's Summer Reading Bucket List on her blog. She does include a gift link in her post so go there first to read it. Becky explains why this recent shift in the Times's book coverage is so welcome. I recommend that you read her blog every day for news, commentary and great readers advisory ideas. 

This bucket list is a great summer book display or online post for your library. You can do a ten week series and feature one idea a week with recommendations. Another idea would be to feature staff suggestions for the various entries and to mix up the entries since they are not in a particular order. 

Adult summer reading programs are sometimes overshadowed by youth programs and this list from the Times is an easy way to up your collection promotion while giving adults something fun to do!

Unshelve With Help from RA For All & The Best Books of 2026, So Far

On Tuesday, Becky Spratford featured The Best Books of 2026, So Far from the New York Times on her blog, RA for All. 

On Tuesday April 28, Becky Spratford featured The Best Books of 2026, So Far from the New York Times on her blog, RA for All. I recommend that you and your colleagues read through Becky’s blog post.  In it, she discusses how the NYT book section is focusing on prioritizing the reader and what would appeal to readers like our patrons.

There is nothing to add to Becky’s analysis. However, I would suggest that you look over the NYT list after you read the blog post. The titles of the various sections will make great titles for book displays. Several examples - I want a lush historical novel about sisterhood, I want a fresh perspective on familiar history, I want a rivals-to-lovers road trip romance, and I love absorbing biographies that bring icons to life – can likely be filled with titles from your collection. Check for read-alikes for the exact titles on their list but don’t worry about expanding your selections far from what the Times has listed; the display is to market your collection, not to mirror the Times article exactly.

I love the idea of just taking “I love” or “I want” and creating a series of displays to run over a month or so in a library. You can see what the Times has listed but then create your own. There are plenty of tropes and plot points that you can select which will draw attention to your backlist. Something like “I want a new twist on vampires” would have plenty of recent examples such as The Buffalo Hunter Hunter by Stephen Graham Jones, Reluctant Immortals by Gwendolyn Kiste, and Nestlings by Nat Cassidy.

 

 

Unshelve Using BookCon 2026

 

BookCon 2026 has ended but it did leave us with some ideas for marketing library collections to readers. (There were also many instances of ARC related poor behavior. See here, here, and here for more information about that.) When a big book related event happens, use it to create displays and online lists.

Take aways? Dystopian fiction and romantasy remain popular. Swag is also something that readers enjoy so keep putting out bookmarks and perhaps investigate making buttons or other items patrons can collect. Adaptations of books were also discussed.

Use the bestselling authors who attracted the most attention to draw attention to hidden gems in your collection by doing read-alike book displays and lists. Find authors, titles, and series that those who enjoyed the very popular titles.

Some news from BookCon includes:

BookCon 2026 Proved There’s an Appetite for More Diversity in Black Romance Reads – From Ebony 
Includes Cannon Reads, ‘90’s Nostalgia, Modern Love, and Upcoming Spring and Summer Releases

New 'Divergent', Dungeon Crawler Carl and dizzying crowds mark BookCon's 2026 return – From USA Today

What is the best book-to-screen adaptation? Authors reveal their favorites. – From USA Today

BookCon Guests and Panelists

New Veronica Roth and R.F. Kuang Novels, Rachel Reid Dishes with Jacob Tierney and Other Biggest BookCon 2026 Bombshells – From People

BookCon Returns After Six-Year Break: Event Organizer on Reservation Rush, Boycott Response and Romantasy Reader Demand – From Variety

r/BookCon – From Reddit

Unshelve Your Collection - Using Celebrity Picks

One constant is that readers enjoy celebrity reading picks. We can see this every time someone like Taylor Swift is seen with a book under her arm. I have had great success with celebrity reading focused book displays. Bill Gates and President Obama are two people who come out with annual lists. When Gates recommended a book on the history of shipping containers I put it on a displays and it was checked out the first day.

You can find lists by searching for [celebrity name] reading list , favorite books, or reading recommendations. For a different take on this idea, you can create a display inspired by a particular album, artist, movie, or song. Use the title "Reading with [celebrity name] and put up those books along with titles you have that feature that actor, musician, or author. 

Here are some lists to get you started! If you create a display, I would love to see it. Tag me on social media or email me!

Billy Porter Shares His 6 Favorite Reads — Including This Viral Self-Help Book

Radical Reads: Celebrity Book Recommendations

Celeb Book Recs

celebrities with great reading lists?

20 Great Celebrity Book Recommendations

Amazon Book Review - Celebrity Picks

Listopia > books taylor swift has mentioned

What books do we know Taylor has read and liked?

Bad Bunny Reading List

 Listopia > Beyoncé Cowboy Carter Reading List

Pedro Pascal's Favorite Books Just Proves This Man Has Impeccable Taste

12 Celebrity Book Recommendations

Celebrities Who Read Diversely and The Books They Recommend

The Shameless Book Club: Jacob Elordi 

Pop Star Picks: Books, TV & Films Recommended By Taylor Swift, Harry Styles, Zendaya & More

Book Recommendations from Celebrities

Unshelve Your Collection - Using Upcoming Books to Draw Attention to Your Backlist

 Book Riot sends out a newsletter devoted to horror called The Fright Stuff. The Friday, April 3 edition was titled "Scream-Worthy New Horror Books Coming Out in April 2026." Included were titles like: 

• Bodies of Work by Clay McLeod Chapman (Titan, April 7) You can see my starred review here.
• Morsel by Carter Keane (Tor Nightfire, April 14)
• The Take by Kelly Yang (Berkley, April 14) 
• Japanese Gothic by Kylie Lee Baker (Hanover Square, April 14) 
• May the Dead Keep You by Jill Baguchinsky (Little, Brown Books, April 21)
• The Caretaker by Marcus Kliewer (Atria, April 21)
• Molka by Monika Kim (Erewhon, April 28) You can see my starred review here

Take a page from Concord, NH’s great indie bookstore, Gibson’s! Set up a display or bulletin board with covers from upcoming titles. Add a QR code with a link to your catalog where the patron can place a hold. Add read-alikes from your collection to the display. 

Never assume that all of your patrons know about even basic library services like placing a hold. You can mirror this display online and include a link to the catalog. 

Borrow ideas from newsletters and publisher’s marketing emails and use them to help market your backlist. 

Unshelve Your Collection with The Lineup & Grief Horror

 The Lineup recently featured this list: 9 Unsettling Horror Books About Grief.  For those who don't know, The Lineup covers movies, TV shows, and books about horror, true crime, and thrillers. They focus on backlist titles so it's a great resource for discovering titles for book displays and book lists. 

Grief horror is big right now and a focus on a popular theme, trope, or subgenre can help fans of a recent title find other books they will love. I would add other fiction about grief to the display to fill it out and to allow you to leave it up for a longer time if you don't currently have enough horror titles. Don't forget to include information about which titles you have in your digital collections. 

One of the lists below includes recovering from trauma with the fiction about grief so I included some lists about that subject for those who wanted to expand their display. 

It's always possible to put up a small, curated, pop-up collection at a service desk or on a bookcart. This would allow more staff to be involved as you would have to change it out more frequently when titles were checked out. Include a link to your catalog on the sign and encourage patrons to place holds if titles are already checked out. 

If you decide to put up some non-fiction, consider your community and perhaps place that in a different part of the library. However, as the Reddit threads indicate, reading fiction about loss is one way to grieve and deal with a death. 

Here are some lists to help get you started: 

The Seattle Public Library : Next Chapter: Grief (Fiction)

Goodreads : Grief Fiction Books

Reddit r/literature : Novels with grief as an important theme

Reddit r/suggestmeabook : My partner passed recently, fiction books about loss and grief? 

Reddit r/suggestmeabook :Suggest me a fiction book with grief as a theme

The Fiction Fox : Ultimate Guide to Grief Fiction

Book Riot : 8 of the Best Novels About Grief and Recovering from Trauma

Reddit r/suggestmeabook : Fiction books with a MC struggling/dealing with trauma in a realistic way?

Reddit r/suggestmeabook : Books involving characters who have gone through childhood trauma or dysfunctional families

The Fiction Fox :Ultimate Guide to Novels on (Healing from) Trauma

Electric Lit : 7 Novels About the Reverberations of Trauma

Goodreads : Trauma Book Lists

Unshelve with Help From Novel Suspects

 Novel Suspects is a website and newsletter from Hachette Book Group. It covers crime fiction and horror, including true crime. They include book lists, obviously with Hachette titles. However, you can borrow the idea and use the books in your collection. 

"Cannibalistic Cravings: 5 Gourmet Thrillers with ‘Unique’ Taste" is a recent list that could make a creative display. In addition to crime fiction, horror, and true crime, a display like this could include cookbooks as well. There are a number of lists below with books that you can use. 

The same display could be done with cozy mysteries with food themes. Cozy-Mystery has lists of culinary mysteries. 

I love the titles that Book Riot used - Fed Up With People and On the Menu. They are both clever and could be borrowed for your display with credit give to Book Riot. 

Horror suggestions from Reddit

Cannibalism Books - Goodreads

Crazy about Cannibalism- Patron created list from Central Arkansas Library System

8 Novels About Humans Eating Humans - Electric Lit

8 Books About Historical Cannibalism - Mental Floss

Fed Up With People: 10 Great Horror Books About Cannibalism- Book Riot

9 True Crime Books About Cannibalism - The Lineup

Cannibal Books - Goodreads

On the Menu: Cannibalistic Horror - Book Riot

Unshelve Your Collection Post Superbowl

 Superbowl 2026 is behind us now but you can use it to market your collection. The easiest thing to do is to harness the press about Bad Bunny and set up a display of books by Puerto Rican authors and books about PR. I will put a few lists below to get you started. The idea is to use a topic that is already on the minds of your patrons and use it to put some great books in front of them. 

Goodreads Listopia:Highlighting books written by Puerto Rican authors.

Indianapolis Public Library - Puerto Rican Authors

Reddit r/books: Literature of Puerto Rico

Barnes & Noble: Puerto Rican Fiction 

Don't forget to look for music by Puerto Rican musicians and to bring out your non-fiction about the island. You likely also have biographies of people from Puerto Rico. 

This is not an attempt to provoke those who might be mad about the halftime show but a way to bring out some great books that are hiding on the shelf. Use your best judgement about your patrons and community when it comes to signage. 

Another way to harness the Superbowl is to check the news today and see which advertisements landed well with viewers. Pull out books with titles that will remind patrons of those ads or are about subjects related to the ads. This kind of display can harness the creativity of your staff! 

Let Me Help You Unshelve Your Collection This Year!

A short introduction to me and what I try to do here. I have worked for my library system for 18 years as of this year. My time here has taken me from a branch library to reference to circulation and then to acquisitions. I updated our website, was an administrator for our ILS, and created and ran reports. As far as programming is concerned, I have created and ran programs for infants through older people. 

Basically, except for administration, I have done it in a public library. 

Before libraries, I earned a masters degree in religious studies with a focus on Holocaust studies and antisemitism. For a time, I was a manager at Barnes and Noble, ran a comic book store, and worked for a brokerage firm. 

I serve as Volunteer Coordinator for the Horror Writers Association and review (primarily) horror for both Booklist and Library Journal. I love promoting the books I love on my social media accounts. Spending energy putting a light on what you love is a better use of time than dragging books that didn't work for you online. I also add photos of displays I love to help give you ideas!

Now, I work to help library workers learn how to use passive readers advisory to market their collections more effectively. A well designed book display can help shine a spotlight on those titles that haven't received love from your patrons recently. Focusing on the books rather than decorations or elaborate signage, borrowing book store techniques can help your patrons find their next great read. This will likely be a book that they hadn't had on their mind when they entered your building. 

I have presented for a variety of state and national organizations including webinars for PCI. These topics include:

*Book Display Basics for Every Library Worker

*Book Displays That Do More - Interactive Book Displays with Passive Programming 

*Engaging Patrons With Better Book Displays

*Inclusive Readers Advisory for Any Library Worker

*An Introduction to Passive Readers Advisory

*Love Is In the Air : Marketing Your Romance Collection Using Passive Readers Advisor

*Marketing Your Collection, Services, and Programs with Better Book Displays

*Not Just In October: Marketing Your Horror and Dark Literature Collection with Passive Readers Advisory

* Using Book Displays and More to Market Your Winter Holiday Collection 

If you are interested in having me teach your staff my techniques for using passive readers advisory, please reach out to me - Lila.Denning (at) gmail (dot) com. 

Unshelve Your Collection By Making Book Club Suggestions

 NPR Books recently released: Can't decide what to read next? Here are 20 recommendations for your book club.

This list consists of 2025 releases that are suggested for book clubs that need some ideas for their next read. This post can be used by your library by using your own backlist suggestions. Have staff check books that haven't been checked out as often as they could be and would make for a great book club suggestion. 

If they are available in your digital collection, include that information on the display as well. It's also a great time to promote your ill and hold services to patrons. We should never assume that everyone knows what services we offer. 

Your social media can also reflect these suggestions to tie your physical displays into your social media. Remember that books are our business and we should be working towards sending out the message that our community should come to librarians for suggestions, not AI. 

Using Best Book Posts to Unshelve Your Collection

There are plenty of "Best Books of 2025" lists online. They can easily be turned into a book display by focusing on the titles in your collection which haven't circulated as well as you would like and that would benefit from some attention. I would also include some read alikes from. your backlist for the most popular titles. 

Include the URL or a QR code to the site on your sign if you use one list. You can also combine them and post a list of various pages you used on your social media or website. You can also keep a list at your public service desk. There are some examples of Best Of lists below but I am certain that you can find many more.

 The Atlantic 10: The Books that Made Us Think the Most This Year

The Guardian: Best Books of 2025

LA Times: Best of 2025 

Goodreads Choice Awards

Library Journal: Best Books of 2025

Booklist Backlist: Best Personal Reading, Listening, and Watching.

AP: 10 Notable Books of 2025

Vulture: The Best Books of 2025

Chicago Tribune: The 10 best books of 2025

The Scientific American Staff’s Favorite Books of 2025

Smithsonian Magazine: The Ten Best Science Books of 2025

Town & Country: The 20 Best Books of 2025

Crime Reads: The Best Debut Crime Novels of 2025

NYT: Our Favorite Hidden Gem Books

Planning to Unshelve 2026

Part of the secret of a solid merchandising plan for your collection, services, and programs is to not wait until right before you need to set up a physical or digital display. Most libraries have some regular programming that reoccurs on a schedule as well as services that remain constant. I advise that libraries set up a monthly schedule for displays. This approach also allows for establishing a rotation to encourage many members of your staff to participate as well as every part of your library. 

Depending upon what works better for your library, you can use a physical planner, set up an online calendar, or even use a spreadsheet or notebook. Starting with January, list the holidays and cultural awareness events that your library will promote, including local and state events. Note any special programs. Decide which regular programs you will promote with a book display. Finally, leave some spots for staff to be creative and develop their own ideas. 

Decide when different displays will be put up and taken down. You will also need to coordinate with your web and social media teams if you want to mirror displays there or save some for digital only. Work with the managers and supervisors in your library to gauge staff interest in participating. Once you have decided who will develop which displays, you can start in on February. 

I would develop a plan for at least the first three months of the year. You can go forward with the rest of the year, with the understanding that your board, county, city, or other stakeholders could make a request. Sometimes there are significant events or pop culture phenomenon which you will want to use to market your collection. As with everything in a library, things change and we should always be ready for surprises. 

Please reach out if you would be interested in training on setting up a merchandising calendar or on book displays and passive readers advisory more broadly. 

 

Unshelve Your Collection - Body Horror with Book Riot & TOGETHER

 Emily Martin of Book Riot has an article on their site with suggestions for other titles to read for those excited about Together, a body horror film out in theaters. Her list includes three strong titles, including one by Eric LaRocca who is definitely an author your library should have on its shelves.

Body horror is a subgenre which focuses on the mutilation, transformation, mutation, or degradation of the human body. It's often graphic and disturbing with intense descriptions which will unsettle readers.    

Lists like these are great to use as a start for a book display. You can take the theme and then see what books your library owns that might fit. You don't need to limit yourself to the titles on any one list or follow the theme exactly. The object is to help books in your collection find their readers. 

RA for All Horror - New Book Bonus Annotations: Chapter 13: Body Horror

Penguin Random House - Bone-Chilling Body Horror Books 
Goodreads - Body Horror Books
Book Riot - 9 Body Horror Novels by Women about Losing Control
The Guardian - Five of the best body horror novels
Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh- Genre Guide – Body Horror

Unshelve the Titles That Have Become Lost in the Stacks

 When librarians involved in readers advisory trainings advise library workers to avoid putting bestsellers on a display, there is often a lot of pushback. No one is suggesting that you not buy the most popular authors or those breakout hit titles. What is being suggested is since book displays are a form of marketing for your collection, it makes no sense to waste that space and effort on the titles with long wait lists and a solid fan base. If you have a long list for Rebecca Yarros, you don't need to promote her books. (Other than using them as a source for "read this while you wait for ..." displays.)

Remember that what needs attention at one library will be different at another. There can be genres, authors, and titles that fly off the shelf at one library but languish at another. I can't tell you which titles need attention at your library but whomever runs reports for you can do that. Because it is your collection and your library, you will need to adapt whatever collection marketing ideas to your library. 

Rather than worry about creating something super creative with a snappy sign, start with some reports that list titles which haven't circulated in awhile. Look at what new releases haven't found their reader yet. Make a sign that says NEW! or FICTION! or CHECK US OUT! and put up your display. What gets books checked out is the face out and the creation of a smaller collection on the display.l Someone on staff may find a book they love on that display and can hand sell it to a patron who needs a great read. By investing some attention in in those titles, you will have given them another chance before they are deselected. 

I also suggest that libraries invest in easels for their shelves. At the end of your shelves, put one title on an easel. Titles faced out like that will get attention and will likely find their reader. It's a low effort way to promote your collection that everyone in your library can fill them in when they pass an empty easel. It's not a huge investment but will have a great payoff as far as getting titles in the hands of readers. 

Unshelve Your Collection By Crossing Genres

Many authors and readers are not tied to a single genre any longer so don’t keep your book displays tied to a single genre either. Create a display of “books that are successful as in two genres.” Another version of this idea is a display of books from one genre that would appeal to fans of another. While "romantasy" may be the hottest blend of genres right now, there are certainly many more. 

Your signage can reference "Try romance and..." while including romance/science fiction, romance/mystery, and even romance/horror blends. "Love in Space" could include romance and science fiction. Mystery and horror could have a sign that says "The Dark Side of Crime." Don't forget westerns, historical, and inspirational fiction as well. The titles and subtitles of online book lists can also inspire you. 

I'll include some lists below to get you started but remember to focus on what you have in your collection which could use some attention rather than trying to create a perfect display. 

Murder & Mayhem - 10 Romance Mystery Books to Fall in Love With
Crime Reads - 7 Spectacular Books that Mix Mystery with Romance 
Book Riot - 44 Mystery Romance Novels to Read Right Now

Book Riot - Love & Other Epic Adventures: Science Fiction Romance Books
Goodreads - Science Fiction Romance

Romance.io - Most popular science fiction romance books

Goodreads - Mystery Horror Books

Novel Suspects - Thrillers Brimming With Mystery and Horror
Crime Reads - 20 Essential Crime and Horror Crossovers

Also, genre blending was the topic of the first panel I ever moderated at the Horror Writers Association's StokerCon! I will be in Connecticut for StokerCon this weekend. I hope to post pictures and updates both here and on my social media accounts. Then it's on to ALA Annual in Philly. 

Unshelve your collection - Pairing Books on a Display (includes partnership/passive programming ideas)

 

I have written about book buddies as a book display before – those books that have similar vibes or remind you of each other. Another version on this theme is to create book pairings, like those created in restaurants with wines. Book clubs sometimes will pair books to give their members a way to gain a deeper understanding of a theme or context. You can provide some suggestions for any patron by creating a book display or online book list with pairing suggestions.  

One way to think about it is to pair a classic title with a book that updates or takes another view of the story - think Jane Eyre and Wide Sargasso Sea. The latter updates the story from the point of view of the first Mrs. Rochester. Another would be the work of H.P Lovecraft with books like The Ballad of Black Tom by Victor Lavalle. That novella looks at "The Horror at Red Hook" from the viewpoint of a black man.

 Newer fiction titles can be paired with older books. Non-fiction and fiction can be paired together. You can cross genres by pairing romantic suspense with a mystery or traditional suspense novel.  It can be done to give patrons an option while they wait for a title with a long hold list or as a way of providing patrons with an option after they finish a great read.

Below you will find some lists with pairing suggestions. Ask your coworkers for ideas and don’t forget young adult and juvenile materials! Let interested staff present it as options on a dating app or wine list. 

Perfect Pairs: Books that Go Together Like Cats and Bookstores - Book Riot
What are good pairs of books to read together? - Reddit
Books in Pairs: Pairing up my 2024-reads -  The FictionFox
classic vs. Contemporary: Novel Pairings by Character and Archetype - lit & more
My Favourite Fiction and Non-Fiction Book Pairings - Keeping Up With the Penguins
Books that are better together: 16 favorite novels for book clubs - Modern Mrs. Darcy
Adult Fiction and Nonfiction Read-Along Book Pairings - Book Riot

If you want to go a step further, find a local coffee or wine shop and ask them to help you curate a list of drinks to pair with various book titles. This is clearly not something that has a firm right or wrong answer. Patrons of both the library and the business can be encouraged to contribute their own suggestions for pairings. 

The book list and drinks can be posted in the local business and on their social media and/or website. It is a fun way to draw in readers and highlight your local small businesses. By putting the information in the business and on their social media you may reach an audience who is not already using the library which should be one of your goals with marketing. 

Here are a few lists to give you an idea of what is possible:
Wine and Words : Perfect Pairings for Book Lovers - Drink in Life
Literary libations: 21 book & drink pairings for every taste - Libby Life
Pair Your Favorite Coffee Drink With A Matching Book! - Union University Library Blog