Rounding up readers

In the last post, I bemoaned the fact that we have readers in our middle and high schools who never darken the library door.  In this post, I'll share what I'm doing to try to round up these readers.

In no particular order, here are a few ideas that I'm trying:
*Display New York Times bestsellers that we have in the library for middle grade readers and teens (see photos).
*Go to Barnes and Noble on a regular basis to grab lots of brand new books to minimize the lag time from when the books hit stores to when students check them out (I check reviews in the store using my phone).
*Simplify checkout by eliminating the library card.  Students now self-check using their lunch number.
*Email the middle school and high school reading/English teachers to ask for help in spreading the word about great books and friendly policies in the library such as no fines.
*Beef up the digital eBook collection.
*Make school-wide announcements asking students to save their cash and come to the library to request the book they want to read instead.
*Recruit students to recommend books for our library blog.
*Greet every student who comes to the library.  Engage them in conversations about new books and reading if possible.

What other ideas have worked for rounding up readers at your library?  Please share!

Dia de los Muertos connections in the library

Our library has looked particularly festive for the past couple of weeks due to a project by one of our Spanish III teachers on Dia de los Muertos.

The teacher brings her students to the libray to research Day of the Dead and the associated customs. Students choose an artist or performer and create an altar to this person that accurately reflects elements of traditional altars. Students come to the library to give a presentation on their altar, and the difficult part is it's totally in Spanish!


All their altars and a beautiful one dedicated to Frida Kahla are on display in the library for the week prior to Dia de los Muertos.

In additions to great connections with the Spanish classes, the displays have generated a lot of traffic for the library in the way of parents, administrators, teachers, and other students who want to see these beautiful projects.

Do you have similar connections that you'd like to share here?

Cool tools: Ikea display stands

Sometimes cool tools can be low tech (and inexpensive), as evidenced by these great display stands I found at Ikea for .99 each (search Tolsby on ikea.com).

I'm using them right now for several things, as you can see in the photos. 

Last week I used them as table numbers for the book pass activity (see previous post).  The numbers are clip art that I re-printed in color this morning to spiff them up a bit.

The students of one of our Spanish teachers are getting ready to do a big Dia de los Muertos project in the library, complete with a large altar to Frida Kahlo and smaller, individual altars to relatives and personal heroes.  I put related pictures in the display stands and will set these on library tables to compliment their projects.

Finally, I'm working on a new display, Read Any Good Movies Lately? After poking around on IMBD, I discovered that we have almost all of the books that correspond with the top 40 or so books-to-upcoming movies on their site. I'll display the books themselves, the IMBD list, and a handout of the books.  I'm including the display stands with 4 x 6 color copies of the book covers so the display won't be bare if (hopefully when) the books are checked out.


What other uses have you thought of for these low tech cool tools?