December is almost upon us! This year has flown by and it’s
time to think about merchandising your collection for December. While there are
two big holidays to consider, I would always suggest that you include some
displays and lists that are not about Christmas or New Year’s Eve. Not every
patron celebrates Christmas or holidays in general. There will also be patrons
who are seeking a break from holiday preparations, even if they do celebrate
Christmas.
I also suggest that while winter-y décor is appropriate in
the northern hemisphere, avoid decorations that are Christmas oriented. For those
who are not from Christian backgrounds, it can be off putting to see a tree and
so forth in their library. Perhaps youth
library staff can have the youngest patrons create snowflakes to hang from the
ceiling. Adding a small Menorah for Hanukkah or Kinara for Kwanzaa doesn’t balance
out a giant Christmas tree in your lobby.
An idea for an interactive display or passive program would
be to ask patrons to put their best memory from this year on a card of some
sort. You can display them on a bulletin board with a cart of books about
memories nearby. At the end of the month, transition it to hopes for the
upcoming year and add books about positive psychology, planning, or hope in
general. Whether or not you mediate this program depends upon your building and
your patrons. Set up separate ones in your youth and young adult area if that
works better for your building and the expectations of your stakeholders.
Both programs can be replicated on your website or social
media. Have patrons email you their answers and you can aggregate them in a
post, in your building, or online. If
they write their memory or hope down, images can be posted, and your library
can be tagged with whatever tag you come up with for these programs or your
online passive programs in general. Don’t hesitate to do both – patrons who
primary use eBooks and eAudiobooks should not be excluded from your programs if
you are able to post about them online.
Fiction is filled with winter themed titles in every genre.
Don’t forget to just use books with frozen, snow, cold, frost, winter and so
forth in the title. Winter horror, thrillers, and suspense novels will be
popular as will mysteries and romance. Winter starts on December 21st
officially, but this display can be up all month.
It’s best of the year time. Any outlet that sells books or
has book news and reviews will be releasing their best of year lists. Review
them and compare them to your collection. You may find titles that you need to
order. Check for books that could use a circulation boost, especially those by
underrepresented authors or from smaller presses. The books which were best
sellers and filled your request list don’t need the boost that a book display
or booklist can provide. Remember to make copies of the lists you post online available
for patrons in your buildings. You can also put a shelf talker where the best
of books are shelved and add read-alikes for when they are checked out.
December also includes Pearl Harbor day. It’s a good time to
dig out military history, World War II history and fiction that haven’t
circulated in a while. You can pair this display with a program with your local
Veteran’s Administration office or hospital to highlight available services for
veterans. There are constantly new historical fiction titles about World War II
being published which makes this an easy display to keep filled.
With Hanukkah and Kwanzaa both starting near Christmas this
year, they might not get the attention they deserve. While your youth
collection likely has many options, don’t forget to add Jewish history books
and fiction by Jewish authors as well as books by Black authors and 1960’s Black
history to fill in your adult display and lists.
I hope this gives you some options beyond Christmas books
for your December displays. While I have put up displays with holiday movies,
music, and books, I always try to add some displays that are not Christmas
themed. Remember that your library needs to represent everyone in your
community.
