March Madness in Books!

ROUND 1

MPL March Madness in Books! is a tournament-styled book battle for all ages at the Marshall Public Library. MPL has selected 32 top checked out books from different areas of the library. These titles have been randomly paired off in a bracket battle where your votes will advance them to the next round. Voting ballots are available at the library, at www.marshallpl.org, and on the MPL Facebook page. A bulletin board will track the voting progress. You do not need to have read every book to vote. Feel free to look up summaries or reviews and decide which book will progress to the next round.  Ballots will be tallied at the end of each week and the winning tiles will be advanced to the next round. Then a new ballot will be available. Voting begins February 24. Make sure to get your votes in each week and help us choose the #1 book for MPL March Madness in Books! The winning book will be announced April 3^rd.

 I found so many different versions of this idea but I loved the templates found over at www.literaryhoots.com. So that is what I used too. For the other graphics I googled March Madness in images. I added "In Books!" The other graphic is a basketball hoop and I added the orange book.

I will update with more pictures through the month.

ROUND 2

 I added the QR code square that takes patrons to the Facebook page.

ROUND 3

Update: The Winner!

Fashionable Reads

This was a fun book display featuring books with clothing in the title. It was surprising how many books went up on this display. Just to name a few titles:

• The Dress Shop of Dreams by Menna van Praag 
• The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants by Ann Brashares
• The Dressmaker by Kate Alcott
• The Kid in the Red Jacket by Barbara Park
• The Red Shirt Kids by Bryce Clark
• If the Shoe Fits by Sarah Mlynowski
• The Rag Coat by Lauren Mills

I totally forgot to take a picture of this display. But This shows what was up on the sides.

I just googled paper dolls, printed a few, and simply cut out their clothing. 

Blind Date with a Book (5th annual)

This is the 5th year we have done this themed display for February. So many patrons look forward to this one. I think they like the mystery of not knowing what book they are checking out. This year I decided to change it up a bit. (link to one of our past blind book displays).

First, books are completely wrapped (years past had book covers so you could still look through them) so no flipping through the pages this time. However, each book is labeled so you know what genre you are getting. Some are also labeled teen and children's book.

 I also covered the barcode instead of cutting out holes (this was simply so wrapping the books would not take up so much time). I have typed all barcodes and taped them on the back. When a patron checks it out we have to type in the number instead of scanning.

I also added a "rate your date" bookmark that patrons can fill out to let us know what they thought of their book/date. I will then post these on the side of the display.

The idea is to cover the sides of the display with these bookmarks.

Close up of a bookmark. 

Fun display for all ages. I try to make sure it has several different types of books are available for adults, teens and children.

Winter reading

This year for winter reading we decided to keep it simple. We are doing a Tic-Tac-Toe card. When you get 3 in a row you get a plastic book bag and get an entry into our grand prize drawing which is a winter gift basket.

This is the bulletin board in the entryway letting our patrons know about the program.

Sample of the card is posted.

Close up of the card. Link to PDF. 

I paper pieced the penguin together. I loved how he turned out.  The snow is crinkled up tracing paper.

Christmas Carol Quiz

For this display each light has a question or answer. They are then attached by a piece of yarn. I have used this in the past put to make matching them up correctly easier I have them numbered on the back.

Here is an example of some of the questions and answers. I also added a few fun facts and had their strings go to the poster in the center. Most patrons that stop and look at the board leave humming one of the tunes. :)

Collection Development

I know this has nothing to do with displays or programs. However an important part of my job is collection development. That means that I have the opportunity to help keep a section in the library filled with reading materials.
My area is the paperbacks for adult readers. I love ordering new books! But there comes a time when old and unpopular books need to be "weeded." I spent a good amount of time in October reviewing books and deciding what to "let go."

Some of the books I decided to delete.

Some of the things I watch for:

• Books falling apart (then I have to decide if a new copy needs to be ordered)
• Age of the book
• How often does it check out?
• When was it checked out last? (this time around I deleted books that had not been used in 4 years)
• How many times has it been checked out?
• Is it part of a series?
• Do we own it in another collection?
• Is the book out of print?

Weeding is a little stressful because I don't like to get rid of books. So it is good to keep in mind that 1) they go to the Friends of MPL Book Sale and 2) it makes room for more new books.

Dinosaur Books

This month we have first grade field trips. They are always asking for the dinosaur books. So I have taken books from the nonfiction section upstairs and put them on display downstairs near the children's area to make it easier for them to check out.

I am only putting 15 books out at a time so that one class does not take them "all" at once. 

For the sides I used dinosaurs from a past bulletin board. 

I love how simple this was to throw together and the kids get so 

excited when they see it. Now the challenge will be to keep it filled.