Happy National Poetry Month

We've never gone out of our way to celebrate National Poetry Month, but this year we've made an effort to focus on poetry. A celebration means a display and this month is no exception:
Our April poetry display in the library.


I don't know if this is true everywhere, but our poetry collection was starting to rot (metaphorically). For the most part, it just sat on the shelves, buried deep within non-fiction or randomly scattered throughout our "Teen Fiction" section. Students who wanted it couldn't find it, and many others didn't realize it was even an option.

Our solution? We created a poetry genre. Our library is already organized by genre, so it made sense to pull out all the poetry books (I'm including novels in verse) and give them their own special shelf. Here are the genre stickers our secretary came up with:
Poetry genre stickers on book spines
Since creating a special section devoted to poetry, we've seen circulation increase -- always the ultimate goal, right?

We're also celebrating National Poetry month with a research project that combines the iPod, biology, animals, and poetry. Stay tuned for details!

Comments

  1. karafribApril 5, 2011 at 8:21 AM

    Your poetry display is beautiful! It's fantastic that you've seen a rise in circulation. I always feel like tweens and teens would actually enjoy and relate to poetry if they just checked it out. Brilliant idea to put poetry in its own section.

    ReplyDelete
  2. LindsayApril 5, 2011 at 12:35 PM

    Thanks! I'm hoping our kids who like novels in verse will venture into to other types of poetry since they're now all in the same section. Fingers crossed!

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Updated Facebook Template

Image
For the last couple of years, we've been using a PowerPoint Facebook page as a final product for a research unit. When we used the template last year, my students were quick to point out that the template was "old school" - Facebook has made major tweaks to the layout and design of its site, which weren't reflected in this version. This year, I finally got around to updating the template to reflect Facebook's current look. Click here to download the  new template for PowerPoint 2010 . No, it doesn't have the timeline interface (I'm not using it yet on my own personal Facebook page, so I don't feel comfortable enough trying to recreate it), but otherwise it reflects many of the recent design changes. It is hyperlinked, so when you're in "View Show" mode, you can click on "Wall," "Info," and "Pictures," and go directly to those parts of the PowerPoint - making it behaving like a traditional Facebook page.
Read more

Supporting Social-Emotional Learning with Library Bulletin Boards

Image
  As librarians, we cover so many different standards. Information literacy? Check. English Language Arts? Check. Reading? Check. STEM? Check. Computer science? Check. Over the last year or two, I've added social-emotional learning to the list of skills and competencies I teach through library instruction.  Some strategies are super obvious - like direct instruction as part of my teaching, but other methods like book displays and bulletin boards are more subtle. One primary focus of my library program is supporting students' mental health, which is directly tied to the SEL strand of emotional regulation.  Emotional regulation refers to the ability to manage and express emotions in a healthy and appropriate way. Emotional regulation is essential for secondary students, who are navigating the challenges and complexities of adolescence. During this time, my junior high kids feel a huge range of intense emotions, from excitement and joy to frustration and anger and everything in be
Read more

January Bulletin Boards & Book Displays

Image
I thought I'd share our January displays and bulletin board before the month is officially over. Luckily, this month's themes are pretty universal, so they'd work just as well any other time of the year. In the library we went with a black and white color scheme and a "Get Inspired" theme. We hung white puff balls (snow?) leftover from a bridal shower and made large, over-sized silhouettes to define the book types at each display. This meant a jumbo chef's hat by the food books, a sled by the sports books, and a pair of scissors by the craft books. Our bulletin board was inspired by this pin . I thought it was a great January idea as the board's title is "Happy New Beginnings." The board displays the first line from 12 different books. When students lift the flap, they see a photo of the book cover that corresponds to that quote. I tried to pick titles that had really great first lines -- it was harder than you'd think! I&#
Read more