I'd mentioned about my display project.  After much hitting my head against the desk in trying to come up with an idea, something hit me.

The books themselves are FUN!  And they're at a book party!  So... here's the fruits of my labour.  If I'd had more time, I think the party could have been more jumping, but I'm fairly happy with how it turned out.

Graphic Novel Display

I talked about his in January, but didn't get around to posting about it once I'd put up the display.  It stayed up for a good month or so before it had to come down.  Looking at it, I wish I'd chosen something different for the title of the display, but I suppose it's "comic-y" enough, and it stands out, which is the most important thing.

So, after some thought I decided to be selfish and promote the graphic novel display.  I quizzed a few people around work to find out what they thought of when they heard "Graphic Novel" and a lot of them had no idea.  Some thought they were simple comics, others didn't have an opinion.

Our GNs are stored in with the Non-Fiction collection, in with the Dewey Decimals around 741.5.  It's hard to find them, so I thought I'd let people know where they are.

I put up some notes that said, "Not just comic strips!" and the pulled some books from our collection to put in there.  The biggest problem I had with the display was my choice of backdrop.  I thought that material would be easier to tape to the case, eliminating the hassle of taping black tissue paper up there.

Well, material is heavier than regular paper.  As such, it was dragging down and I had to pin it into the cabinet so it wouldn't sag and look like crap.  It was left in there for a long time, and I even heard that some people were asking about GNs at the info desk, wondering if we could order more for them.  This was so encouraging for me.  I love promoting the collection!

Multi-Lingual re-vamp

I noticed that our multi-lingual section is a bit unkept and the books are shelved all willy nilly. I asked my supervisor if I had permission to take time out of shelving to go reorganize the shelves. She said yes.

Then I proposed that I create new signs for that area to make it more inviting. So instead of one big sign that says "Oh, Arabic and Chinese are in this alcove" I will have signs that say Chinese /
中文 (zhōngwén) and Arabic / العربية (al arabiya)

I have a feeling I'm getting too excited for this project. I still feel like not too many people care or even want me to do this. Still, I see a place to make a positive change, and I'm gonna go for it!

I have a list of languages at the library. I've asked my friends to take a look at them and tell me if they look okay for displays, or how I should write the language so it's welcoming to library patrons.

This is the list of languages left to verify:
(I get confused when entries like Serbian have two possible words.)

Arabic
العربية (al arabiya)

Filipino
??

Finnish
suomi / suomen kieli

Greek
ελληνικά (ellēniká)

Gujarati
ગુજરાતી (gujarātī)

Hindi
हिन्दी (hindī)

Hungarian
magyar / magyar nyelv

Italian
Italiano

Korean
한국어 [韓國語] (han-guk-eo)

Punjabi
ਪੰਜਾਬੀ / ﺏﺎﺠﻨﭘ (panjābi)

Portuguese
português

Russian
Русский язык (Russkij jazyk)

Serbian
српски (srpski)
српски језик (srpski jezik)

Ukranian
Українська (Ukrajins'ka)

Urdu
اردو (urdū)

Vietnamese
tiếng việt

Display Success

Well, I put my display together to promote the non-fiction area of the collection. I put up a simple display in the case, but then pulled an unused table out and just stacked tons of interesting-looking non-fiction books on it.

The cool part: My display has since come down (the case is being used for other things) but the table remains!

It's awesome. I set out books, and then I see people going over and looking at the things that are on the table. I even set out a book, then I went back up to circulation and a man came up 10 minutes later with that same book that I'd set out!

I feel so proud, and yet, feel like nobody at work really cares. I don't expect fanfare or anything, but it's like me (and my displays/efforts) are invisible :(

Maybe I care too much...

New Display

The only real thing that takes some creativity in my current job is the creation of library displays.

I was just handed my new assignment: non-fiction books that are entertaining to read. (Not the exact words, but essentially what it is.)

I've already got some ideas for how the display will look, and I want to create some sort of bibliography, or at least call number ranges for people to check out. I don't think I can have handouts with this display, though... I'm going to have to talk to my supervisor.

Maybe I could post something on the inside of the glass that talks about the ranges where people can look. (This job would be a lot easier if the biographies were stored together instead of interspersed with the rest of the collection.)

I'll try to take some pictures to share once I've put it together. Due date: July 31