Bear Bahoochie

New term = New Displays

I got new shoes. They are fab and I love them. My friends commented that if I were a shoe these were the shoes I’d be. Now that reminded me of that old saying “You can’t judge someone until you’ve walked a mile in their shoes” so a quick google image search later and some scanned front covers of biographies and tada!

Then inspired by ‘The Absolute True Diary of a Part-Time Indian” I opted for a Native American display. I found an image of weaving that I printed off and photocopied larger and multiple times to make the background and table runner.
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Library Display Inspiration

I popped in to see Yvonne over in Inveralmond High School the other week and she had a lovely purple display:

Then her other nice idea was a Cool Wall similar to that seen on Top Gear – she just had the slips for it lying about and encouraged pupils to add to it.

Holiday Display

When asked what the end of term display should be an S6 pupil commented we hadn’t had a caravan display – that being an icon of the summer. So Caravan display it was. I’d seen reading signs in LFC Direct (though hadn’t splashed out on them) and made my own versions, plus recycled a couple of old maps. Some of the pupils helped with the caravan and car.

Books to Movies

Books to movies was the theme the past fortnight in the library. Pretty predictable looking (especially since I’ve done it annually and I’ve recycled the bits every time!).  A couple of the library monitors noticed but no-one else seemed to and staff still commented on it.

Part of this was so it fitted with my emergency S1 extra lesson – where pupils were asked to compare books to movies on a worksheet. I did it as a discussion option in a wee group so they could chat about a book and the movie made from it even if they hadn’t read/seen it individually.

The next months are pupil creations – ‘Girls Rule’ which is all pink (and I mean that even the books are pink) and then ‘Boys Night In’ where blue is the dominant colour. Both done by two of the library monitors.

Other book news finished reading the Sookie Stakehouse books up to the latest one. They did get sillier but still enjoyable. Moving on to other things now – though not finding myself so addicted to the latest reading pick.

Two displays in one day

So the holidays are a chance to get things done and today it was displays. I had been going to do books to movies but my lessons on that have been bounced in favour of the library blog for the next two weeks so switch in display to promoting the blog.

I printed out some of the pupil reviews from the blog and attached them to the books (not as fast as you’d think since a number of pupils had reviewed either books that are out or we didn’t have – that’s what happens when you give free choice!). Then I found the pics of staff reading I took back in 2008 (after discounting the staff who have left) I printed out 20 adding a ‘get caught reading’ heading and the blog address at the bottom. Add some blog bookmarks and - voilà!Then for display two it’s that giant glass case in the hall again. Big slogans seem to work best so -

Which came first?

This display came about as a discussion with pupils. Originally they decided we should have the egg and chicken as Papier-mâché.  But past experience with this left me cynical – mainly because pupils have a tendency to loose patience before enough layers are added so the sculpture tends to implode when the balloon is popped.

After the failed Papier-mâché attempt I convinced them that paper could work as well so we created a paper egg and chick. The idea was partly Easter based but also it’s subject choice time again and philosophy is one of the available subject choices they have in S5/6.

Anyway books included Sophie’s World by Jostein Gaarder and the Philosophy files by Stephen Law and Daniel Postgate plus on the egg side Dino Egg by Charlie James, Eggs by Jerry Spinelli.

It went well and lots of pupils were asking what the answer was – hence leading to an an explanation of what Philosophy is.  Some even took the books out!

Love in the Library

Valentine’s gets a mixed response in my library for some it’s fun for others it’s viewed with disgust. I’ve promised them anti-Valentine’s next year but this year speed was important.

So back out with the hearts (these were originally done when I started five years ago so they are doing well), pint off some letters onto A4 sheets (making it just the outline means you can just trim round) and out with some books about love or first sex since didn’t want them to be all soppy (I used a list from the Ultimate Teen Book Guide as a guide).

I also added to the display some very bad jokes thanks to Disney’s Family Fun site’s Valentine’s Day Jokes.

It’s not going to change to world but it did get some groans from pupils.

Christmas in the Library

Now I love the festive season and any excuse the decorate the library so I opted this year for a Christ-moose (or a Merry Moose-mas?)

The baubles hanging from the antlers are book wishes from staff – the poor moose became quite heavily laden by the end.

I also made a wreath for the door out of paper. (You cut a circle out of cardboard the size you want the wreath to be then cut out the middle so you have  wreath shape. Next staple holly shaped bits of green paper onto it – work round the circle in the same direction. To finish cut some circles out of red, group into threes and spread amongst the holly).The pupils decorated the tree and then I wheeled out the paper snowman making. I’ve done this before and giving pupils three increasing sized circles, a orange triangle and paper sticks always results in fun. This year I had a bunch wearing hats, smoking pipes and even one throwing a snowball. However I also had a pupil who reminded me of Calvin (from Calvin and Hobbes) who made a Siamese twin snowman and another snowman holding a firework who was going to blow them apart plus  a snowman on fire who was melting.  Free reign of ideas is worth thinking about carefully!

Anyway his somewhat worrying snowmen inspired me to replicate the Calvin and Hobbes snowmen that I love so much (see last years tree decorations). So the main notice board got the bowling snowman and the rest were scattered in amongst the pupils creations.

Recent Displays

I have been busy with library displays but kept forgetting to get the photos home to post. I’ve done three displays since I last posted. Hallowe’en is full of photos of the pupils so I can’t post them but we did a haunted house mystery where the pupils had different characters and library users were challenged to solve the mystery. All very Scooby Doo

Next I had my Remembrance Day display. I try and change it every year and last year had a WW1 emphasis so I decided to go with the current war in Afghanistan as this years. I typed up a list of the UK military personnel who have died since we started the conflict including job and age. Simple but very effective.

Then we had my LGBT display. Now this was a result of a staff challenge. At the last in-service day we were challenged to do things that would make LGBT lifestyle accepted (i.e. the same way skin colour and religion have been accepted). I opted for authors who have written great books but happen to fall into one of those categories for the display.  I think the funniest thing about this one was that the depute head sent me an email saying we’d have to discuss this as we don’t want to ‘promote’. Needless to say we never had the talk but I love the idea I have that power – now if I could only make them read!

NB: four pupils have come out to me as a result so the aim of making it an accepted thing in the library worked – none of them took a book though!

The slogan was an adaptation of one I’d seen on the Curmudgeoy Librarian Superstore which had it going ‘into the stacks’ but there was no way my pupils would have understood that.

Rodents Rule!

Another fortnight another display. This time we have Rodents Rule – featuring a carefully constructed paper version of a Banksy rat.

The books include Mrs Frisby and the Rats of Nimh, The Amazing Maurice and His Eductaed Rodents, The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, Depford Mice trilogy, Redwall, Maus, The Tale of One Bad Rat and Firmin.