How to Make Unique, Inexpensive Book Displays in Your Library

Eye-catching displays enliven a library.

If you are looking to make attention-getting book displays in your library or classroom, be creative and think outside of the box. You can display books without spending hundreds of dollars on special display easels and stands. With a little imagination and some planning, you can create some inexpensive book displays in your own library.

Instructions

1. Take advantage of the holidays. Probably the easiest way to make inexpensive displays in your library is to use the holidays to your advantage. Pull books for the next holiday and make a sign announcing it. For inexpensive signage, purchase large acrylic picture frames from a discount store. Print off a sign on the computer, and you have professional looking signage for about $2 that you can reuse. Hit garage sales, Goodwill, eBay and Craigslist for preowned seasonal merchandise that you can use in a display. Another way to get great deals on seasonal merchandise is to go to discount or departments stores a day or two after a holiday -- many items are available at clearance prices and you can get good deals for the following year. If you have holiday decorations at home, bring them out to accent your book displays. If you don't have anything to put out, consider going to garage sales where holiday decorations are often in abundance. Additionally, look at dollar stores, the big-box $1 aisle and drugstores for seasonal items. Here are some tips for specific holidays:

   Valentine's Day: Choose romance novels or love-themed books; laminate paper doilies and hang them from fishing line. Make paper "Sweetheart" candies with book messages on them: Read Me, I Heart Books, Be My Favorite Book.

   Halloween: Purchase lightweight lighted pumpkins and display with Halloween books; make paper spiders with black circles and accordion-folded legs; buy real mini pumpkins and gourds.

   Thanksgiving: Recycle pumpkins and gourds from your Halloween display, add additional gourds or Indian corn. Include books about colonists and the Mayflower; make paper turkeys and string cranberries.

   Winter Holidays: Recycle cranberries and add popcorn strands; ask Christmas tree lots for extra pieces of greenery to use around books; make coins out of gold foil and use light blue crepe paper streamers for Hanukkah.

2. *Buy basic display staples and reuse them. For the best value in your library, make a few basic purchases that can be used over and over. Buy a few acrylic picture frames to use as inexpensive signs, buy book easels to hold books (really inexpensive versions of these are plate stands, which can be found in various places, including the craft centers of big-box stores), wrap boxes in craft paper to elevate books in different heights; purchase a few bright pieces of fabric to drape over small boxes or containers to add interest.

3. Create "book mobiles." Make a book mobile by hanging bookmarks on a hanger or piece of wire to make a mobile; do the same with cut-outs of books from trade magazines or catalogs.

4. Make gutter shelves. One inexpensive way to create book "rails" in your library is to use wall space to hang wall gutters. This allows you to face books outward to pique student interest; you can also place gutters at any height.

5. Look for old fixtures. While book spinning racks and displays can be expensive, you can find some used displays at fixture warehouses. Also, greeting card display racks can make great book racks if you take the time to find them. Generally speaking, they are much cheaper as well.

6. Paint an interest wall. To create interest in one area of your library, paint the wall (or a section of the wall) a different color or design. Use large foam letters (often $1 apiece at craft stores) to make signage. A design painted on a wall is fun, but it only works if done well. Enlist an artist friend or art teacher to help you rough out your display.

7. Shop for storage organizers. Sometimes the best storage organizers make the best book displays. While storage containers and organizers can be expensive, they are usually still much cheaper than book displays from library supply catalogs. Look at carts, wall pockets, bins and tubs to make displays for your library. There are many ways to add interest to your library without spending a fortune. Keep an eye out for the most creative solutions, and you'll end up with library displays that everyone will love.

Tips & Warnings

• See links below for articles about improving your school media center and using a digital frame in your media center.

References

• "Library Displays on a Shoestring: 3-Dimensional Techniques for Promoting Library Services"; Wendy D. M. Barteluk
• Library Displays: Creative Ideas to Promote Books From Your Library Collection