Hanging Out With Our New Books!

I'm so excited with the 3 new book displays that went up yesterday! We did a huge order and bought a number of new titles from a variety of genres and formats. I was so excited to bring in all of these titles and to get them out on display. I wanted to do something a little different so I thought why not hang some books from the ceiling. With a little thought and testing I came up with a simple and cheap (who doesn't love when you can make stuff you already have?). Using binder clips and yarn I was able to hang 10 different graphic novels from the ceiling! When the vent is blowing just right the books start to rotate showing off both of their sides.

 I was starting to create this new display while students were hanging out in the library during recess and I could see the excitement building for the books that were being put out. Their eyes lit up when they saw the library now housed the entire collection of Attack on Titans! For a type of book that seemed so foreign to me until I took a Graphic Novels class in my Masters the students at KCI love them. I had never heard of Manga until about a year and a half ago and the junior students love them so much that they are never on the shelves! This is such a great sight to see. The eagerness to get their hands on a book is one of the best feelings as a teacher and teacher-librarian. To know that I have selected titles that they want to read and sometimes fight over is so wonderful.

The next display I focused on was on for the older students in our school. These new titles have themes that include: loss, eating disorders in boys, addiction, single mother etc. I am hoping that by showcasing books with mature content it will entice older students to read. I did a simple display and labelled it "for the more mature reader". I had some funny comments from teachers saying that finally there was books for them because they are very mature;)

Lastly, I displayed the rest of our new books sorting them by genre. These books include mystery, adventure, fantasy, realistic and historical fiction.

Last week I also decided to create an instagram account to share the goings on in the library. (I was told by a grade 10 student that teenagers use instagram more than twitter, so I took the plunge). Today after watching the grade 6 students so excited about the new books that I asked some of them if they wanted to share why they liked the new book they were reading. I shared their thoughts on my instagram feed with the new hashtag #kcireads. I started this hashtag in hopes of helping promote reading at KCI. It is so important to get students on board and hopefully by using a platform they all use I may be able to get them involved. To see the new tweets and instagram posts I share I have placed two feeds on the right side of the blog as an easy way to stay updated on #kcireads.