I've been at my library for over a year now, and while that is by no means a long time, I have noticed that customers have gotten to know who I am. Especially those customers with children. That's Miss Amy, she came to my school! or Miss Amy did that airplane program I went to--those are things I'll overhear as children let their parents know who I am. So that's reason 1 of my rationalization: library folks know who this Miss Amy person is.
Reason 2 stems from something that occurred several times this summer. While I was interacting with summer reading participants, I had several regular library visitors start to ask what I was reading. I'd explain a bit about the books I had currently read, and more often than not the child would ask if he or she could check out the book I mentioned. Whatever their reasons may be, some kids want to read what the kidlit-reading grown-ups in their lives are reading.
I have noticed that picture books tend to be picked off the display faster than chapter books (with the exception of The Secret of the Fortune Wookiee, which was plucked from the display within two minutes of being placed on it). But one of the beauties of such a simple display is that I can replace a book that doesn't seem to be catching customers' eyes. I'm finding this display a great way to keep things fresh and moving while letting young customers and their caregivers know I've got their reading interests in mind.
I really want to do the same thing but with 3 or 4 books in our teen area. I get a lot of kids who come in with a parent or who've been told to get a book, but have no idea what they like and so they're overwhelmed and just sort of shrug and do the teen mumble: "idunno". So I'm hoping a display like this (especially since lots of these kids know me from school visits now) will say to them "These book won't suck!" And will also get some of my favorite books circulating!
ReplyDeleteGreat idea for teens! I've been playing with the idea of adding a handwritten line beneath the "Miss Amy Recommends..." in the bubble for middle grade books--they'd say things like "...if you like to laugh" or "...if you like supernatural adventure."
DeleteLet me know how it works!