Library displays

I've been creating monthly book displays for the YA room at the library for several months, but this month was my first attempt at an adult display. It doesn't look as good as I imagined in my head, but it's only my first one, so hopefully I'll get better with practice! I decided to do one for Hispanic Heritage Month (which runs from September 15th to October 15th actually). Sadly, I was unable to locate a bunch of my cool decorations from my old Spanish classroom (I used to teach English & Spanish), but I did bring in a few fun props. I also added a page explaining the Pura Belpre Award, a page listing library resources for learning Spanish, and a page that explains where Spanish language books are located. On the side are some pictures of people and places in the Spanish-speaking world. Here's what it looks like: 

In the YA room, the display area is smaller, so I haven't been using props. (Plus I used to get things stolen from my classroom all the time, so I'm a little wary to put any personal belongings on the display. And teens have vandalized some things in the YA room before. Hopefully I'll get over my fear someday though in the name of eye-catching displays!). On the left side of the display the theme is "Undead and Loving It" with a tagline of "Love conquers all...even flesh-eating zombies." It was inspired by a booklist of the same name I saw in an old issue of Voices of Youth Advocates - I just changed the actual books to reflect what we have in our collection. We have an upcoming Zombie Fest (and I'm currently practicing my moves so I can teen the teens the Thriller dance), so I wanted something to kind of go along with that. Click here for the booklist. 

Closeup of the sign: Isn't that clip art the cutest? Zombies apparently propose with brains. 

On the right side of the display the theme is "Books That Rock" with the tagline "Musical reads." This year's Teen Read Week theme is Books with Beat, which encourages teens to read poetry, audiobooks, or books about music.I compiled a list of books that feature characters who are musicians or who enjoy music. Click here for the booklist. Next month I'm thinking of doing novels-in-verse on one side and books made into movies on the other. I may still change my mind on that second theme though. 

Just for fun - I had nothing to do with this display case, but I couldn't help snapping a picture of it. Children tend to just sit down in front of it, mesmerized at all the different Pez dispensers! It's funny what different people choose to collect. 

Another just for fun item - on the YALSA listserv, librarians have been bouncing ideas off one another for a Glee-themed book display. I didn't contribute to the list, but I had fun reading everyone's different ideas. Cheryl Clark compiled the list and emailed it to everyone. If you're a Gleek like me, you'll get a kick out of imagining what the different characters might read: 

Sue Sylvester

Books about special forces, cheerleaders, and ninjas

Biographies of Madonna and Olivia Newton John

Will Shuester

Divorce for Dummies by John Ventura and Mary Reed

Biographies about rappers of the 90’s

Books about OCD

Rachel

Suite Scarlett by Maureen Johnson and the sequel Scarlett Fever

The Princess Diaries by Meg Cabot and the sequels

I’d Tell You I Love You, But Then I’d Have to Kill You by Ally Carter and the sequels

Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen by Dyan Sheldon

Dramarama by E. Lockhart

30 Days to Getting over the Dork You Used to Call a Boyfriend by Clea Hantman

Acting books

Books of dramatic monologues

Books about the Holocaust

Biographies about Broadway stars

Finn

The Contender by Robert Lipsyte

The Boy Who Saved Baseball by John Ritter

Stand Tall by Joan Bauer

Other books about athletes as heroes

Nonfiction books about sports

Kurt

Boy Meets Boy by David LevithanWill Grayson, Will Grayson by John Green and David LevithanNaomi and Ely's No Kiss List by Rachel Cohn and David Levithan

Queer Eye for the Straight Guy by Potter Clarkson

The Straight Road to Kylie by Nico Medina

Books by Tim Gunn

Biographies of divas (Madonna, Lady Ga Ga, etc.) and fashion designers

Dummies books for topics Kurt’s dad is into (football, car repair, etc.)

Artie

The Door in the Wall by Marguerite De Angeli

Freak the Mighty by W. R. Philbrick

Ender’s Shadow:  Battle School by Mike Carey

Feed by M.T. Anderson

Heavy Metal and You by Christopher Krovatin

Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist by Rachel Cohn

Marvel and DC comics

The same selections as Tina’s (see below)

Quinn

Every Little Thing in the World by Nina de Gramont

Someone Like You by Sarah Dessen

Story of a Girl by Sarah Zarr

Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver

Some Girls Are by Courtney Summers

Almost anything by Courtney Summers

Other books about teen pregnancy or mean girls

Christian fiction

Puck

Fat Kid Rules the World by Kelly Going

The Spectacular Now by Tim Tharp

Doing It by Melvin Burgess

Punkzilla by Adam Rapp

Fight Club by Chuck Palahniuk

Other books about sex, drugs, and rock and roll

Books about teen fathers, football, WWE, or bodybuilding.

Books on tape, CD’s, videos—anything that doesn’t require a person to actually read

Tina

Skim by Mariko Tamaki

The Sandman by Neil Gaiman

Boy Proof by Cecil Castellucci

The Astonishing Adventures of Fanboy and Goth Girl by Barry Lyga and the sequel Goth Girl Rising

Fly on the Wall by E. Lockhart

The Ghostgirl series by Tonya Hurley

Other books that appeal to Goth kids

Manga and anime books

Britney

Fancy Nancy by Jane O’Connor

Pinkalicious by Victoria Kann

The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle

Other easy reads

Santana

Uglies by Scott Westerfeld and the sequels

The Bermudez Triangle by Maureen Johnson

The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros

Esperanza Rising by Pam Muñoz Ryan

Fix by Leslie Margolis

Adios to My Old Life by Caridad Ferrer

Other books about lesbians or Hispanics

Mercedes

After Tupac and D Foster by Jacqueline Woodson

Feathers by Jacqueline Woodson

The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison

I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou

The Kimani Tru series

Sellout by Ebony Joy Wilkins

Books about African Americans and music

Biographies of R&B stars

Novels by Dana Davidson

Happy reading and book-display-making,