Library Bulletin Boards

I thought I would start with the fun stuff! I love library displays. I guess I can blame it on years of working retail. I know that there are two schools of thought on this....Some people love doing displays, and some people think that it is a waste of time. It has been my experience that library bulletin boards and displays serve as a great icebreaker/conversation starter for our students. I have often talked to students who have never checked out a book (I know, I know), who are interested in what's going on with our displays. It's a hook, and I will definitely take student interest however I can get it!

Both of these were my holiday boards. I have a couple basic tips when it comes to bulletin boards:

The first thing obviously is to make sure that your bulletin board is visually appealing. I like to use bright colors and over-sized cartoons to grab my student's attention. I also like to incorporate some sort of interactive element. For the Thanksgiving bulletin board, I choose strips of paper that the students could list the reasons why they are thankful. This is a very basic way to engage student participation in the media center. I will talk more about interactive bulletin boards in a separate post. The third element is to have some sort of "hook" or pun. This can be in the wording of the bulletin board itself, or just the general appearance. The last element is to tie into a school or media center activity. This is easy during the holidays when everyone is focused on the same things, but I also try to meet with my teachers to see if my bulletin boards can supplement their curriculum.

I hope that is helpful!