BULLETIN BOARDS & DISPLAY : Star Wars Reads Day 2015

     Hopefully these pics will be self-explanatory, because this is another one I'm posting a while after the fact. Good thing I took pictures.
     Basically, a few of my fellow library techs in our school district shared that they were doing displays and activities/events for Star Wars Reads Day, which I had never observed before. So I felt like, "Shit, I guess I better add this one to my October file..."
     I mean, I wanna be cool. And Star Wars is cool.
     All the other techs were submitting requests for these free giveaways some of the new Star Wars books' publishers were doing. I got some cool card thingies with that new droid, BB-8, that punch out and make little stand-ups of the character. I gave those away as part of the "consolation prize" to all the contest entrants who didn't win one of the 3 grand prizes.

     Luckily, my high school library has plenty of Star Wars novels, chapter books, even some nonfiction about the vehicles and creatures, etc.

BTW, one of my library tech friends noticed my error on the sign above, and I quickly fixed it, my cheeks burning with shame.

     The prizes I gave out were:

• A 6' tall cardboard character stand-up of The Force Awakens' Captain Phasma
• New hardcover book Aftermath: Star Wars: Journey To the Force Awakens by Chuck Wendig
• The Darth Vader head bank you see pictured above, which we used as a raffle box during the contest.

BULLETIN BOARDS & DISPLAY : Banned Books Week 2015!

     *I'm posting this way after the fact, but don't judge me. Things get really hectic in a school library.*

I added this to my display this year, hoping for increased clarity on the issue. ;)

     Every year I struggle a little to make sure the students understand Banned Books Week as much as possible. I know some libraries call it "Intellectual Freedom Week," but usually that's partially for the sake of simplification, and partially because they shy away from anything that might sound controversial. I do NOT shy away from what might seem controversial, plus I like how arresting "Banned Books Week" sounds. It's SUPPOSED to get your attention because it's an important issue!
     But it also means you can't be lazy, because you'll probably be explaining the same things to your students all month. (No, we are NOT banning books, yes you MAY check out the books on display because we're celebrating the fact that they are available in OUR library, well- do YOU think one person or group should have the right to decide what YOU have access to and what you do NOT?  No, this doesn't mean I'm going to put Fifty Shades of Grey in our school library, etc...)

Several teachers created extra credit assignments based on the lists I sent out of Frequently Challenged and/or Banned Books that are available in our library. I thought that was really cool. :)

     Most of the stuff I put up this year is stuff I've already posted about, so I didn't post pictures of the old stuff. Instead, here is a link to a few older posts with display ideas for Banned Books Week.

BULLETIN BOARDS & DISPLAY : Halloween 2015

     I meant to post these pictures early in October, but things got away from me. So I'm just gonna post them now. I'm kinda bummed that I totally forgot to take pictures of all the OTHER Halloween decorations we put around the library, especially since my library volunteer (Mom) and I really went all-out and did a super great job with it. So you just have to trust me, we should have won an award for "Best Halloween Decorations On Campus." The Attendance Office and the Counseling Office think they're so great, with all their fancy things on windows and hanging from the ceiling...
     We'll see how things fall out when the Christmas decorating contest rolls around. We'll just see about all that...

SSR stands for "Sustained Silent Reading"

     At the beginning of this school year SSR was newly reinstated, after a hiatus of probably more than 10 years. At first, LOTS of teachers just were not doing it. Didn't understand it, couldn't figure out how to handle it. Kids were still wandering into the library for various reasons during that sacred 15 minutes of SSR, when the ENTIRE CAMPUS is supposed to be silently reading, especially the adults who need to model it for the kids.
     I kept having to put my own book down and send kids back, and when I'd ask them why they weren't doing SSR, many of them had never even HEARD of it, which means their teachers were not only ignoring it, but they weren't even MENTIONING it.
     Luckily, our Principal was really good (and patient) about doing reminder announcements and emails, until finally I think most of them are doing it now. (3 months down the road)

I stole that slogan from somewhere online. I think it's super clever. But I can't take credit for it. I can take credit for the artwork and lettering above, though. Isn't it nice? Why, thank you. :)

BULLETIN BOARDS & DISPLAY : October & Halloween

     I do love this season, and all things Halloween. Here are some pics of how I've decorated the library:

Main bulletin board, including quote by Edgar Allan Poe Skelton and tarantula are original things I drew, the rest is vintage Halloween decor, clip art, and a library poster. For the light green and brown "grass," I just cut up some construction paper all crazy-like.

 

"Words have no power to impress the mind without the exquisite horror of their reality."

-Edgar Allan Poe

The cylindrical display cabinet, which I keep unlocked so I can encourage kids to grab books out of it. The raven on top has a tag around its neck that says, "Nevermore."

The "Coming Soon" whiteboard, festooned with glowing skulls. (And yes, we DO now have "Blood of Olympus.")

Vintage 3D Halloween decorations

The green skulls are just clip art printed on colored paper, with orange paper flames, mounted against black paper.

I like this poster. It always makes me think of Bradbury's "Something Wicked This Way Comes."

These are the windows of my horrible little cave of an office.

BULLETIN BOARDS & DISPLAY : Halloween 2013

Vintage Halloween tablecloth used as bulletin board covering.

     My Aunt Wanda gave me this rad bag full of vintage Halloween decorations. We figure they're from the 1950s, or maybe even the '40s. Some of the stuff was never even opened! Anthony and I put some of it up at home, and the rest I took to the library. My mom helped me put everything up, which was totally fun. Thanks, Mom! Thanks, Aunt Wanda!

Vintage scarecrow as centerpiece of the big bulletin board. (I made the reading tarantula years ago when I worked in the Children's Room of the Santa Ana Public Library.)

     I'm actually ashamed of that half-hearted "WEAVE ME ALONE, I'M READING" slogan. I was in a hurry to come up with something reading-related and also spooky or whatever, and kids were due to come flooding into the library any minute.

Luckily for me there were TWO of these vintage flying saucer witches, so one is at home hovering over our dining table, and the other is coasting across the library whiteboard. She's bitchin'.

     Then this crepe paper honeycomb spider happened!

"Kiss my fat black ass!"

     Rubberhead the Skeleton Man hangs out in the library every year. He's surrounded by potions, ravens, a vintage black cat crepe paper thingie, and horror stories.

Vintage crepe paper honeycomb bats, clip art collage stuff, and spoooooky books! Plus my extended bibliography of horror reading recommendations printed on orange paper.

There's that witch, some skull lights, and that sassy black spider...

Vintage Halloween tablecloth, vintage crepe paper spider, Maurice Sendak calendar, Chris Van Allsburg glowing pumpkin print from "The Mysteries of Harris Burdick," and Alice In Wonderland Halloween scrapbook paper.

I drew that lil' skeleton years ago, and he really needs some new material because he says "The horror… the horror…" every damn year.

    In the picture above, see those two vintage orange and black plastic Halloween decorations? My Librarian gave those to me before she retired. I love them. Thanks, Marilyn!

The End!