Passively Recommending Books

Women in horror month is part of an international grassroots effort to promote the work of women in all parts of the horror industry. February is a great month to promote horror titles written by women in your library. People love to read horror all year so don't just put up a horror fiction display in October.  I usually include some psychological suspense in horror displays because it will draw in those people who say they don't read horror but who would love books by authors like Jennifer McMahon or Paul Tremblay. This can also help you keep the display full and to increase the diversity of the authors you include.  Other resources:  Women in Horror Month official website Ladies of Horror Fiction RAforall:Horror 

Absinthe book display is fun and can be used at any time of the year. There is plenty of public domain artwork that can be used for signs. Historical fiction, historical romance,  and steampunk can be used to fill out the display. I was also able to find some cocktail books that included drinks that used absinthe. There are also non-fiction titles that review the history of the drink. Other Resources:  Absinthe Fact and Fiction from Discovery.com Absinthe: How the Green Fairy Became Literature's Drink from BBC.com Devil in a Little Green Bottle from the Science History Institute The Art of Drinking Absinthe, the Liquor of Aesthetes from NPR.org

World Fragrance Day is March 21. This is a good display for mixing non-fiction and fiction, A/V materials and books. Perfume, fragrance, fashion, and lifestyle are all subjects to check in your catalog. Being more flexible with how the items fit into the theme helps keep displays like this filled.  Adult fiction was surprisingly easy to find as perfume and fragrance are popular themes but fragrance/perfume is one of those themes that are present in popular non-fiction as well. I found guides to perfume as well as histories of fragrance and various fashion houses in our collection.  Do some quick research on the history of perfume to find materials in your collection that is tangentially connected to the theme. The idea is to help people discover hidden gems in your collection not to strictly maintain a theme.  Other resources:  Perfume Society Strange History of Perfume from Bustle.com The Ugly History of Beautiful Things: Perfume from Longreads.com  The Fragrance Found

February is Black History Month and it's important to remember to try to branch out and include topics beyond the expected. This year, I put up one for Rosa Parks' birthday. I always include juvenile materials. Beyond children, they are often filled with pictures and can be more accessible to adults with low literacy skills.  The second one up this month is about African American food and cooking. Included are cookbooks and biographies/autobiographies of black chefs. When this one empties out, I will pick another topic. Thinking up displays like this is a good way to check the diversity of your collection in areas like cooking and food. Resources to help you include: https://www.africanamericanhistorymonth.gov/  -The Library of Congress, National Archives and Records Administration, National Endowment for the Humanities, National Gallery of Art, National Park Service, Smithsonian Institution and United States Holocaust Memorial Museum have created a site with inform

Book display set up for International Holocaust Remembrance Day which was January 27. I used materials related to Auschwitz because the date reflects the day the camp was liberated.  Including an online guide or printed list of places where patrons can explore more information would be a great addition to this display. Most Holocaust museums/memorials have places on their websites with online educational materials. If your local community is hosting any events, you can include information about that as well. Relationships can be built starting with just promoting another non-profit's events. Other resources:  The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum   Yad Vashem - World Holocaust Remembrance Center Holocaust Memorial Day Trust (UK) Florida Holocaust Museum Auschwitz-Berkenau Memorial and Museum