Book Display Inspiration Using One Book - Witchcraft for Wayward Girls by Grady Hendrix

Best selling author Grady Hendrix has a new book coming out on January 14, 2025. Witchcraft for Wayward Girls is another great book which will likely have a lot of holds at libraries. He does an amazing job of creating a diverse group of young women and their complex relationships. While being increasingly more frightening as the book progresses it does include the humor that has made Grady's books so distinctive. I also was fascinated by the version of witchcraft he created for the novel.  It's a great opportunity to promote other books in your collection. As part of a regular series, I hope to show you the many ways that you can use one title on a display while promoting your holds list and digital collection. 

Here is the summary of the book from the author's website:

Set in a home for unwed mothers in 1970, Witchcraft for Wayward Girls, is about four teenage
girls who are sent away to have their babies in secret. Trapped in a maternity home in St. Augustine, Florida, they’re helpless, powerless, and in despair, until they discover the power of witchcraft.

There are a number of ways that you can approach this book. It's about witchcraft but it's also about young women and their group dynamic. It is set in a particular time as well. The home for unwed mothers also has somewhat of a boarding school vibe which creates yet another path you can take. If you set up this display, regardless of which themes you use, put up a sign or bookmarks in each book with information about your holds list and how patrons can add the title to it. You can also put in a bookmark with details about a program or service you offer. 

The book is set in 1970 and the time frame of the book plays an important role in the book.  Some other books about the same basic time and which feature relationship between women as as a plot point include: 

The Girls by Emma Cline
Bright Young Women by Jessica Knoll
Beautiful Revolutionary by Laura Elizabeth Woollett
The Summer We Got Saved by Pat Cunningham Devoto
Everything I Never Told You by Celeste Ng
The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett

In addition, you can use these links: 

Historical Fiction Set in the 1970s - Penguin Random House
Historical Fiction 1970s Books - Goodreads
28 Groovy Books About the 1970s - Booklist Queen
Making History: Six Books that Embrace the 1970s - LitHub

Another historical element in the book is the issue of pregnant young women in the era before Roe vs Wade became law. 

What Life Was Like Before Roe V Wade - PM Press
Selected Books on History of Abortion - University of Wisconsin -Madison

Also check the subject headings of the books in your collection to find other titles. Don't forget to include your non-fiction. You should have books about the 1970's in your collection, including in your local history collection. Also, check for movies made in and about the early 1970's. 

Witchcraft is possibly an easier tie-in for the book. I have some lists below to get you started:
Horror Witches Warlocks Books - Goodreads
Popular Witchy Books - Goodreads
8 Horror Books About Witches That Are Truly Scary - Book Riot
Spells and Superstitions: 13 Horror Books About Witches: Read By Dusk
New Book Bonus Annotations: Chapter 7- Witches, Curses, and the Occult: RA For All: Horror

Don't leave out paranormal romance or historical fiction while you are assembling your display. There are also non-fiction titles that you can pull out related to witchcraft and the occult. 

As you can see, a display that focused on the time period in which the book was sent would be different than one that focused on the witchcraft aspect of the book. Either would create a great book display. 

I mentioned boarding schools above so I will add some lists with title suggestions: 
50 Must-Read Books Set in Boarding Schools - Book Riot
The Best Boarding School Novels - FIve Books

You can mix all of these ideas and include some of Grady's previous works. Try to make the display focus on the lesser known authors and those titles that can use a little more light. 

Five For Friday - Reocurring Book Display Idea: Vampire Novels Written By Women

 A really great idea for a reoccuring book display is what I call #FiveForFriday. It involves simply taking 5 books on any theme that comes to mind and promoting them in your building, on your social media, and anywhere else you promote your library. This is something that can be rotated among your staff so that everyone can participate. You will also have the chance to promote parts of your collection that the staff who regularly put up displays might not have considered. 

One example is from the image below. Titan Books promoted some of their horror authors as retweeted by Gabino Iglesias. It's a simple picture of a ghost holding a stack of books. Create a digital display in your eBook platform, a web page with links to your catalog, and/or a book display in your building that includes these titles. 

Create a calendar at least several months out in advance and allow your library staff to sign up for a Friday. You can create a form where staff can list their theme and the five titles that they wish to promote. Of course, staff should be aware that a library need may preempt their post, pushing the list forward. 

Create guidelines for staff requiring that their five books be backlist titles and not current bestsellers, the authors are not regularly on the bestseller lists, there are diverse authors included, and as much as possible books are not repeated. 

Since we are in October, this week's suggestion is vampire novels. Vampires are back but they are terrifying and brutal. Authors such as Stephen Graham Jones, Hailey Piper, and Andy Davidson have upcoming vampire novels which would also allow you to promote the idea of putting holds on upcoming books. Never assume that your patrons know everything about your library. 

There are likely many options in your collection for staff to select including movies. The pick for this week is vampire novels by women writers. I have picked five suggestions below but use what is in your collection! 

Immortal Pleasures by V. Castro

Thirst by Marina Yuszczuk

My Soul to Keep by Tananarive Due 

The Gilda Stories by Jewelle Gomez

Sunglasses After Dark by Nancy A. Collins

Using the Bram Stoker Awards to Create a Superior Achievement in a Book Display

 If you are not a horror reader, setting up a horror themed book display and reaching out beyond the best known authors like Steven King, Dean Koontz, and Anne Rice may seem daunting. Most readers and library workers have at least one genre that they aren't familiar with and don't personally dive into. There are plenty of resources to assist you. Some of them I have listed here. In addition, the genre focused resource posts I have created can also be used to find great horror titles. 

I want to focus on one resource in particular today. Annually the Horror Writers Association awards The Bram Stoker Award for Superior Achievement in these categories: Novel, First Novel, Short Fiction, Long Fiction, Young Adult, Middle Grade, Fiction Collection, Poetry, Anthology, Screenplay, Graphic Novel and Non-Fiction. These titles recommend some of the best of the best of the genre. The HWA has also worked to make these awards as inclusive as possible which will help you curate the best display possible as you select more recently published works. 

The list of past winners can be found on the Stoker Award website. Don't just use the winners - use the nominated books as well. You can also use the back list from nominated authors as well. 

More spooky book display ideas to come!

October! or while it's Spooky Month don't limit horror to just one month

 I do have suggestions for a variety of horror oriented book displays for this month. However, I want to emphasize that horror, like any other genre, should not be promoted for just one month a year. Readers will pick up horror all year; this is especially true now as the popularity of horror continues to increase. Authors like Stephen King and Grady Hendrix have fans who don't read much other horror but might enjoy read alikes for the works of either of these authors. 

The borderlines between genres continue to be blurred. There are horror novels blended with any genre you can think of including romance and comedy fiction. There are horror novels being published now that include elements familiar to mystery readers including police procedurals. As I have mentioned before, many novels have subject headings of suspense/thriller/mystery in addition to horror. Take this as an indication to include horror with your displays of crime books throughout the year. Many readers will be open to trying out a horror novel that includes themes or elements that they enjoy in the thrillers or suspense novels they read. 

Crime fiction varies as far as levels of terror and violence explicitly described on the page, just as horror does. Most library workers are familiar with asking mystery fans if they lean towards cozy mysteries or something with more sex and violence like a noir. We also ask readers how spicy a romance they are seeking. The same sort of questions can be asked of a reader to determine what sort of horror novel they would enjoy. 

Don't predetermine that a reader will not enjoy horror because they haven't regularly picked up any. Mix it in with your displays all year and allow your patrons to discover new authors and books. Any book is a beach read. My experience is that people love to take suspenseful novels to the beach with them (partially based upon what comes back with sand in the covers.)

 Included below are some lists to get you started:

20 Essential Crime and Horror Crossovers - Crime Reads

Scares of Every Kind: Two of the Best Genre-Blending Horror Novels - Book Riot

More Genre Blending Horror Books You Should Be Reading - Book Riot

Nefarious Bedfellows: These Twisted Books Blend Crime and Horror - The Line-Up

10 Books That Perfectly Blend Sci-Fi & Horror - Screen Rant

Book Display Idea - Banned Books Week

 

Bookriot has a great article up about Building Good Banned Book Displays. While I encourage all of you to read the entire thing and to take their advice into consideration as you build your displays, there are two points that I want to highlight.

The first is to focus on contemporary titles that have been challenged. As Bookriot’s Nikki DeMarco notes “Be sure to include recent titles in your display of banned and challenged books. When people recognize a title or have a personal connection to it, then learn that it was banned, the impact on that person is even greater.”  While titles like Lady Chatterley’s Lover and Catcher in the Rye have a history of challenges, we don’t want anyone to think that current books that they have enjoyed are not the focus of bans. Making them aware that books like A Court of Mist and Fury by Sarah J. Maas and Drama by Raina Telgemeier will highlight that bans have an ongoing impact. The ALA’s Office of Intellectual Freedom has an archive of the top ten banned books. Bookriot also has excellent coverage of attempts to ban books throughout the US.

The second idea that DeMarco brings up to make your display interactive. I have presented about this topic in webinars recently. Adding something for patrons to participate in will draw in some who might have walked by. Don’t forget to add an online interactive element to your website, blog, or social media. Younger readers can create bookmarks for banned books week. Patrons can submit lists of banned books that they have read. You can ask that local businesses including restaurants and coffee houses post your lists of banned books available at your library. Ask patrons to post a picture of themselves with a banned book on their own social media page and tag your library.

The ALA has information and downloads about Banned Book Week to help get you started.

Social Media and Passive RA - Book of the Day

 Outlets like NPR , The Guardian, and the New York Public Library (and on NYPL Twitter) feature a different book every day. Titles for any audience, fiction and non-fiction, are selected. Your library can copy this idea for your own social media. It's a great way to market your backlist and to introduce titles they may have missed to your patrons. 

This is a perfect ongoing campaign for your entire staff to become involved with. Don't exclude anyone who wants to participate. As I have said before, everyone in your library is an expert in something and they may bring out titles that you are unfamiliar with. Please make sure that staff are using titles that are in your physical or digital collection. You want to draw people into your library to check out the titles you feature!

It will take some planning to keep going every day. Set up at least a week in advance. Repeat the call to your staff to submit their ideas monthly so that you can obtain enough content. The posts can be as simple as a picture of the book with text providing a quick synopsis. You can include a link to the title in your catalog or eBook collection. These are the sort of posts that you can mirror on all of your library's social media, providing content when you don't have anything else planned. 

You may want to expand the program to have patrons submit their options for book of the day. They will need to be told that submissions will be vetted by your professional staff and that not all submissions will be featured. This should help should anyone suggest a book that isn't what your library wants to feature. 

Finally, rotate the books chosen around your collection so that every part gets it's chance to shine. It may be necessary to send out a call if you don't receive enough varied submissions. Social media is wonderful for quick bursts of readers advisory. Use this program to jump start your RA efforts online! 

September Book Display Ideas

 September is almost here already and it's time to start thinking about book displays. Planning and scheduling them in advance is the best way to make certain that they are best able to help you market your backlist, programs, and services. Have fun with them and let staff be creative but don't lose sight of how they can be a serious marketing tool. 

Back to school is the first topic that comes to mind when September rears its head. (Even though many students will return to class in August.) No doubt your youth librarians have picture books with themes including first day of school. There are also many juvenile fiction titles about school friendships and problems. Look to your adult fiction and non-fiction sections for books which reference school or teaching. Don't forget books about mathematics, grammar, and other basics. In addition, work with your local schools to see what topics, upcoming assignments, and focus areas would be most helpful to your patrons. Curate lists of your eBooks and databases that will also help students and teachers. 

Labor Day is September 2. For adults, there are fiction titles which focus on different careers and work in general, even if just in the title. Remember that we are trying to put backlist titles face out and give them some more attention rather than create a perfect collection of books on a given topic. Check your collection for books about careers, the history of the labor movement, and labor law. There are also usually plenty of youth titles covering careers and work. 

9/11 has been given the name Patriot Day. Your collection likely includes titles related to the event and the aftermath. Here are some lists with some suggestions: 

Flight 93 Recommended Reading from the National Park Service
Seven More Books Worth Reading About 9/11 and Its Aftermath from the Council on Foreign Relations
9/11: Books About the Impact of September 11, 2001 from Chicago Public Library
7 Books for Kids About September 11 from the Floyd County Library
Remembering 9/11 with Kids & Teens from New York Public Library

Mawlid, the birthday of the Islamic Prophet Muhammad, is celebrated by Muslims on September 15 and 16. Collect titles about Islam and the Prophet Muhammad for adults and children. If you find few in your collection, bring this up to whomever does collection development for your library. Planning book displays is a great way to identify where your collection could use some additional titles. 

National Hispanic Heritage Month begins September 15. As a build up to Halloween and spooky season, set up a display of Hispanic horror authors. The Horror Writers Association has a blog, the Seers Table, which includes interviews with diverse authors. The Smithsonian has a page with information about Hispanic Heritage Month. Don't forget cookbooks, history books, and books about civil rights struggles in the Hispanic community. 

 The autumnal equinox falls on September 22. With the growth of interest in paganism and witchcraft, your collection likely includes some titles which could be incorporated into a display. Include books with fall themes or fall images on the cover including craft books. There are cozy mysteries and romance books which would work on a display. 

Books to Celebrate the Autumnal Equinox and Harvest Time! from Evanston Public Library
Autumn Equinox from Goodreads
Autumnal Equinox: Books & movies for fall from Oak Park Public Library

International Talk Like a Pirate Day is September 19. This is a fun holiday to celebrate with book lists and displays. Use pirate broadly and reach into your fiction collection to find titles. Your adult non-fiction collection likely includes books about historical pirates as well as more modern ones. Any book with pirate in the title or a pirate on the cover is fair game for a display. 

Arrr, Ahoy Me Hearties! Books for International Talk Like a Pirate Day from Book Riot
International Talk Like a Pirate Day Book List from Charles County Public Library
Books to Read for Talk Like a Pirate Day from Jacksonville Public Library
Talk Like A Pirate Day from San Jose Public Library

Hobbit Day is September 22. You should include cozy reads as well as read alikes for Tolkien's creations. For read alikes, look into the epic fantasy that your collection includes. Think about creating a book list or display that has the spirit of Hobbits rather than exact matches. Your library's staff likely have their own favorite cozy reads. In addition, include breakfast books because a second breakfast is always a good idea. 

Comfort Reads For Hobbit Day | Staff Favorites from Orem Public Library 
There and Back Again: Hobbit-Inspired Reads from Chicago Public Library 
Happy Hobbit Day! from Arapahoe Libraries
Books Like Lord Of The Rings from Goodreads
15 Books Like Lord of the Rings from Book Riot

National Indoor Plant Week is September 15 - 21. With the increase in interest in indoor plants and the rise of the "plant parent" this is a good time to review your collection for current titles on the subject. Beyond non-fiction books about plant care and identification, look for fiction with plants on the front including lush general plant themes on the front. As this has been a trend recently, there should be plenty of candidates.