Book Display Ideas

My Instagram Account has many shots of favorite books and displays:

https://www.instagram.com/barefootlibrarian/

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While on instagram, type in #bookdisplay It is always best to type # in singular, rather than plural, eg #bookdisplay has over 3,000 posts, whereas #bookdisplays has only 300.

When you find some great displays you like, check out that person’s account and see if they are worth following. Also, click on your favorite book displays and see what other # they have used.

You’ll probably turn up tags like #booksuggestion #bookstagram #bookchallenge #instabook and one of my favorites #bookishrainbow

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Here is a post I wrote about using instagram to promote new books http://sites.saschina.org/kpower/2014/11/04/using-instagram-to-promote-new-books/

I like bringing outside elements in to enhance displays, and I’ve done that here with some creations made by students, which I then matched with Roger Hargreaves Little Miss and Mr Men books http://sites.saschina.org/kpower/2014/10/16/fantastic-fun-with-bump-nosey-and-tickle/

I’ve also linked to many of the people I’m mentioning here, on this post. Once you discover a few of these “one stop shops” for finding new books, book lists and great displays, you can rest easy that they’ll always have something for you http://sites.saschina.org/kpower/2014/04/30/list-lovers-of-the-world-unite/

My favorite blogs for inspiration and EXCELLENT book lists include:

http://www.pragmaticmom.com/ check out Mia’s Children’s and YA booklists link, and you really can’t go past her http://www.pragmaticmom.com/booklists/ List of Lists: All My Booklists

Melissa from Imagination Soup is a great one to follow on twitter and pinterest too, here is one of my favorite lists from her http://imaginationsoup.net/2014/11/07/nonfiction-books/ I’m sure you’ll also like her book recommendations by age http://imaginationsoup.net/book-recommendations-age/ 

Here’s one last link I recently stumbled upon: http://clrsig.org/nbgs_books.php which contatins some great book suggestions for our diverse makeup of students at the Children’s Literature and Reading Special Interest Group site.

 

 

List Lovers of the World Unite

As a librarian, I’m constantly recommending books.

I clearly remember my first day working in the library (I’d been a 5th grade classroom teacher for 7 years at SAS, and a High School and Middle School English teacher in Australia for a decade before that). All of a sudden, it was expected that I had read EVERYTHING that ever existed, because, hey, I was a librarian! In the early days I admit lying a little, the odd fib here and there “Yes, I’ve read it” “Oh, I know which book you mean” “Mmmmm, I loved that series” because otherwise I felt so ignorant; I had NOT read all the books people were asking about because hey, I’m only human!

A couple of years into my new role, I have read many more books, and have not read many, many, many others. I have several ‘go-to’ sites that I couldn’t live without… sites where others have painstakingly gone through blog after blog, and compiled list after list of great books. I feel grateful towards these sites every single day. They help me help the students walk away with books just right for them. Thank You Bloggers.

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Mia Wenjen is a PragmaticMom you need to keep an eye on if you want to be up to date on the best of the best that is out there… whether she’s compiling book-lists about responsibility, a collection of authors on a theme or books for advanced readers, there is something for everyone.

I love Travis Jonker’s 100 scope notes where you can find all manner of information, I especially love reading this blog around ALA award time. Linked are some of the great lists I follow with this blog during the year.

Melissa Taylor’s Imagination Soup is another great blog that both Amy Hossack and I turn to for all sorts of tech and library ideas. I ordered books based on one of her chapter book lists just today.

The Horn Book is another tried and true location for finding books, based on all manner of topics such as St. Patrick’s Day and the Olympics; I do love reading their reviews.

I’ve only just discovered this gem through a friend on twitter, From the Mixed up Files of Middle-Grade Authors is a goldmine for the avid reader. I must have been living under a rock to not know about this blog…