November Ideas

 It is November and time to transition book displays for the new month. While Thanksgiving is certainly one of the big days of the month, there are plenty of other opportunities to promote your collection in November. With Veterans Day being November 11, it would be a good time to create an interactive display with not only titles related to veterans but also information about library and other local resources for veterans facing issues. You can bring in a partner organization and put a cart of books in the room for patrons to browse. With Pearl Harbor Day on December 7, change the sign and stretch this display out for a little bit longer. 

Every month is dedicated to at least one health issue, disease, or condition. It's not realistic to try to promote all of them with displays, one option is to combine them into one with a sign recognizing them. Add a variety of health books and include bookmarks or flyers with information about local health resources. This would also make for a wonderful social media post promoting your health related resources. November is well known for "No Shave November" which promotes cancer awareness. An easy display, repeatable in any part of your library, is to create a display of random titles with faces on the cover and add a removable moustache to each book. This can be easily filled by any library worker. Spare moustaches and tape can be stored in the workroom. 

Because there are several bear-related holidays in November, one display can be set up with different signs or even all three mentioned on one sign. Any book about bears, with bears in the title, or bears on the cover are fair game. Obviously, this display can be mirrored in your children's area. 

Polar Bear Week (Nov. 2 to Nov. 8)
National American Teddy Bear Day - November 14
Have a Party with Your Bear Day - November 16

D.B. Cooper Day is November 24, the anniversary of the day the mysterious hijacker disappeared with $200,000 in 1971. Set up a display about mysteries, conspiracy theories, and unsolved crimes. Use fiction, non-fiction, and movies. Include any heist books and movies as well. 

Aviation History Month in in November which can create a variety of display ideas related to airplanes. The simplest idea is just books with planes on the cover. There should be history, transportation, and travel books in your non-fiction collection as well as a variety of fiction titles in which flight plays a part. Ask your patrons where they would like to fly to and post the answers either online or on a display in your library. 

Native American Heritage Month is all month. Remember to include fiction, arts, poetry, and cultural books in your displays. One comprehensive display will be easier to maintain than several specific displays. Here are some lists to get you started: 

Recent Works by Indigenous Authors - New York Public Library 
Native American Books for Native American Heritage Month - Powell's Books
Native American Heritage Month - Book Club Reads - Cincinnati Public Library 
Fiction and Non-Fiction Reads for Native American Heritage Month - Goodreads

World Vegan Month is in November. I include a no-turkey display every year and fill it with vegetarian and vegan cookbooks. This display can last all month and is easily filled. I mention creating easily filled displays because there are times when you need those because of staffing or other priorities. November and December are always filled with plenty of staff vacations. Sometimes we need to select the easiest options. 

Available Presentations

 I am able to create a custom presentation to meet anyone's needs but here are the 1 hour (with questions) presentations that I have show to at least one audience 

*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 

In addition to these, I have trained librarian on adult fiction collection development.

I am working on presentations on other genres, including science fiction and fantasy, crime fiction, and cozy fiction. 

Please reach out if you are interested in having me train your staff in passive readers advisory techniques. 

How to Navigate Book Displays When You Have To Be Careful

Some library workers must be careful when creating book displays especially around certain political issues as well as diversity, equity, and inclusion. While I always advocate for sharing, celebrating, and recommending books from diverse author and including as many experiences as possible in the books you put a spotlight on, some libraries exist in an environment where activists, local politicians, or patrons are invested in policing book displays and library collections. What is a library worker to do when they want to bring attention to books by diverse authors or to highlight perspectives that are out of whatever the mainstream is where their library is located? This is a question I get constantly when I present to libraries. It's a real and legitimate concern. 

My suggestion is to focus on the books. With budget and funding issues, libraries are doing more with fewer resources, including employees. Fighting about the verbage on a sign is not always the best use of anyone's time. For example, a display during Thanksgiving highlighting the Native American experience is completely appropriate. Language on a sign which is intentionally provocative and will draw attention from those who have already made trouble for your library or are poised to do so will create a situation which will draw time, energy, and attention from all the good work that a library does. More importantly, it will draw attention away from the books that you are trying to spotlight. 

I would love to tell everyone to be willing to take on any battle and fight for whichever signage or message that they wish. With the need for most people to maintain employment as well as the likely outcome, I just don't think that is realistic. What would work better is to work books by diverse authors into every display. In the Thanksgiving example above, put books about the Native American experience into any display about Thanksgiving history. Include books by Native American authors in any display of Thanksgiving themed fiction. Set up a display to honor Native American History month, even if you add a sign that says "Great Reads for November."

Ultimately, readers will learn more about the Native American experience by reading books by authors like Stephen Graham Jones than they will from any signage we could put up. Focus on getting books like his in the hands of as many readers as possible. 

Recent Webinars - Using Book Displays and More to Market Your Winter Holiday Collection

I've posted the slides above from my recent PCI Webinars presentation Using Book Displays and More to Market Your Winter Holiday Collection. 

In this presentation I run through ideas for passive readers advisory from Thanksgiving up through Kwanzaa and Yule. Remember to always include some fall/autumn and winter/snow themed displays which can both float before and after a holiday and will be more inclusive to those who don't celebrate holidays at this time. 

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

Five for Friday - Best of 2025 (So far...)

 

 There are many "Best of 2025 (so far)" lists that have come out. One way to harness them for your book display efforts is to review the lists and see what you have in your collection but has not gotten the attention from your patrons that it deserves. You can use a book cart near one of your service desks to draw attention to them. 

If you wish, create a passive program by asking patrons to submit their Best of 2025 (so far) entries either in person, through email, or as comments on a social media post. That can become another display down the road. 

There are enough lists out there that you should be able to find some titles that you own and could use more attention. Every library's selections will be different. 

Here are some lists to get you started: 

New York Times Book Review- The Best Books of the Year (So Far)
Book Riot- These Are The Books on the Most “Best Books of 2025 So Far” Lists

eReaders Forum - The Best Books of 2025 (So Far): Top Picks from Major Booksellers
(This has links to several lists)
NPR - Books We Love
Vulture -The Best Books of 2025 (So Far)
The New Yorker - The Best Books of the Year So Far

Book Lists for the Week

An easy way to get a jump start on a display is to take some of the lists that are put online and adapt them to your collection. Just borrow the title and see what fits that you already have on the shelf. Book displays are a marketing device for your collection and not a test.  I am going to try to list a few each week, along with any advice for adapting them. 

For this week, we have -

Booklist remains one of the sites that I check constantly. They feature great reviews and there is a focus on books, readers, and readers advisory. 

Spanish Sure Bets for Adult Readers: Summer 2025.

Spanish Sure-Bets for Youth.

Personally, I find lists like this very helpful when I'm helping patrons who want books in Spanish beyond English language bestsellers in translation. 

Essentials: Head over Heels for Heartstopper.
Lists like this are why Booklist is so helpful. From their description "Readers who have read every page of Nick and Charlie’s story and are looking for more will appreciate the following titles, which feature some or all of the characteristics that make Heartstopper such a blockbuster: sweet romance, realistically grounded emotions, and lengthened pacing that lingers on quiet, meaningful moments."  The parts in italics are the sort of features you should look for in books to put on a display like this.  A great book display can be built just on books that have similar vibes to a popular series. 

Top 10 Manga for Adults and Older Teens.
If you don't have these titles or they are checked out and popular in your library, check with the manga fans on staff. They will likely have suggestions.

Once Upon a Book Club has a list for July 30 which was apparently National Paperback Day. If you missed it, don't worry about waiting 12 months. Instead, set up a display of "Paperbacks You Might Have Missed" or "Paperback Titles for Your Staycation" and set up your display. 

Cozy Mystery List Blog is sort of a cheat but it's always one of the most popular resources I mention in trainings. My favorite part of their site is Cozy Mysteries by Theme. There are cozies about almost everything. One idea to pull from the site is to check the mysteries by state and set up a display of cozies from your state. 

San Jose Public Library has a list called Summer Learning: YA Summer Romances.  Again, don't worry about the specific titles. See what you have that could use some attention in your library. Move the display away from your YA collection so that readers who don't know about how great your collection is can discover it!

Summerween is now a thing. The Lineup focuses on backlist titles. They have a list of 8 Books to Get You Into the Summerween Spirit. There are so many of these lists if you search for books for summerween, you will see lists from publishers and blogs as well as lists for adults, teens, and children. The truth is that any suspense or horror book can be on these displays. 

As a contrast to Summerween, you could match it up with a Christmas in July and get some more checkouts from your holiday books. I would call it Winter in July to make it more inclusive and open it up to any cozy winter books. Briar Black has a Christmas in July (But Make it Dark) list that defeats that idea.