RA Prompt Week 6

One of my favorite things about my previous position as a Children’s Clerk was getting to brainstorm and implement creative displays to help with Reader’s Advisory and to help familiarize myself with the collection as a whole. Romance is one of those genres where people either love it or hate it. They either read it, fully committed, or they actively avoid it like the plague and say that it’s not for them. I used to be one of those people. Until I found bookstagram. And now I read at least one to two romances a month.... side note: Emily Henry and Christina Lauren are my FAVORITE romance authors.

To change things up a bit for the month of February at my local library, last year I did a kid friendly version of a ‘Blind Date with a Book’ display. I pulled different titles from different genres (picture book, non-fiction, fiction, graphic novel), wrapped them up in corresponding colors, and put them on a Valentine’s Day themed display for the month of February.

I asked my co-workers to join me in pulling materials and writing fun, catchy descriptions of each book to entice our young readers to try something new and ‘fall in love’ with a book. From what my supervisor at the time told me, it created QUITE the discussion and buzz throughout the library with patrons and our Director. But it did its job in that the books were flying off the display faster than we could replace them, and we had young patrons wanting to know when the next ‘Valentine’ would be put out on display. In total we circulated roughly 30 books during the month of February. Below is a picture of the display!


 Children's Services Department "Blind Date with a Book" 2022 Display @ KHCPL

If I were to pitch a romance display to my boss for adults, however, I wouldn’t go for the traditional Blind Date with a Book display for Valentine’s Day. I feel as though most libraries, or any book related entity really, does something like this every Valentine's Day. Because I like to think outside the box, what I would do instead is create a display asking readers to pick their next fictional date for the holiday. The concept would essentially be the same as the BDWAB in that I would pull some of my favorite romances, wrap them up, and then describe and rate each person on a scale from 1 to 5, with one being the worst and five being the best. I would then list four good qualities, followed by one bad, for each romantic partner in the book. I would also ask my fellow co-workers to join in so that we would have a wide and diverse selection. I would add a ‘rate your date’ jar and invite readers to return and rate their dates on a scale of 1-5 and leave a comment for the next person to decide if they want to ‘date’ that person for the holiday. I would also make sure that the display was all inclusive and there was something for everyone: book boyfriends, girlfriends, transgender characters, queer characters, straight characters, etc. 

A backup display idea would involve the spice or steam level of each book. "How spicy do you want your Valentine's Day to be?" on a level from 1-5.

Comments

  1. TashaFebruary 18, 2023 at 6:23 PM

    Hi Gabrielle, This sounds a like a fun twist on blind date with a book. I agree that the standard BDWAB is a little overdone. When I was looking for ideas for a display that idea was ubiquitous. I still think it's a fun idea, but it's good to switch it up.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Sarah BarnesFebruary 19, 2023 at 10:39 AM

    Hi Gabrielle! I think this is a really fun idea- I like the "blind date with a book" that my public library does. I think adding another layer to that would be great! Especially when trying to personalize options for patrons. I would definitely enjoy this!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Erin CataldiFebruary 20, 2023 at 10:19 AM

    I love the idea of rate your date! That is such a new and innovative idea - I may have to steal that someday! Full points!

    ReplyDelete

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