BULLETIN BOARDS & DISPLAY : November 2015 (cont.)

NaNoWriMo
 
    Above is the interior bulletin board version of the NaNoWriMo display I did in the glass case outside the library. I made those big typewriter letters a few years ago, using a silver Sharpie to outline them. I think I just did a Google image search for old-fashioned typewriter letter keys, and copied and pasted into a Word doc, then cropped and enlarged, etc. Really pretty easy.

National Picture Book Month

     Our new District Librarian, Regina, who is awesome, reminded us all that November is National Picture Book Month, and if any of our libraries have cool picture books, now is the time to promote them. My high school actually has a lot of great picture books, which rarely get used because it's a high school, and because they're located in a far corner, facing the wall. I think the previous library staff purchased them for all the kids who are struggling at very low reading levels, but most of the time those kids are too embarrassed to check out Goodnight Moon or Bread & Jam For Frances.
     I used three end-of-stacks display shelves that face out to showcase some of the better picture books I thought would interest our students. Funny ones, and classics, and ones that are geared toward older readers and are more "all ages."
     For more info: nationalpicturebookmonth.com

Staff Favorites
     One of my library technician friends in the same district shared that she was putting up leaves that she was having staff write their favorite book titles on. I appropriated that idea, and created a quick template, printed it on variously sort of autumn leaf-colored papers, and had my trusty library volunteer (Mom) distribute one to every staff mailbox.

Staff Favorites Leaf Template
(That's my hulking shadow looming across the page...)

     We immediately started receiving filled-out leaves back, and started cutting them out and posting them on the end of a shelf, with a sign on top to explain what they are. Mom and I both did one, of course.
     One of our library regulars already asked for the title I put on mine (The Monstrumologist by Rick Yancey) and checked it out. :)
     So... that's November so far!

BULLETIN BOARDS & DISPLAY : November 2015 NaNoWriMo


     I was in a spastic frenzy to put something up in the glass hallway case outside the library, and there is little time between now and when I need to put Christmas stuff up.
     So I did a quick NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) display, including the nanowrimo.org website, and some simple explanation of what it is. None of the English teachers I've asked at this school know what it is, yet. But hopefully they'll start getting interested.

I stole that graphic at the top from somewhere online. It didn't have an artist credited, otherwise I would include that. The typewriter with the green background is from a monthly calendar I had a few years ago. The shield I printed in black and white from the official website, and then had a library volunteer (my aunt!) color the blue background.

     On the official website, they had a brief list of some professionally/traditionally published novels that started out as NaNoWriMo books. Here are a few:

Sara Gruen’s Water for Elephants
Erin Morgenstern’s The Night Circus
Rainbow Rowell’s Fangirl
and Marissa Meyer’s Cinder

These typewriters are just clip art printed on cream-colored paper, and then I cut a slit where the paper would come out, and hand-lettered the genre banners on white paper.