Author Election Display 2012

 We're all relieved the presidential election is over, but we did have fun putting up a display to get the kids involved.  We pulled everything we had on the election process, political parties, and the candidates.  Who knows, may be we have a future president in our midst..

To make it interactive and a little more fun for the kids, we held a mock election of our own.  Eight authors ran for Author of the Year for our middle school, and the kids came in to the library to cast their votes.  The primaries included:

• James Paterson
• JK Rowling
• Suzanne Collins
• Gary Paulsen
• Erin Hunter
• Rick Riordan
• Margaret Petersen-Haddix
• JRR Tolkien

 We printed sheets with the authors' major works to help answer the "Who's that?" question and put them near the ballot box.

The winners of the primaries were Suzanne Collins and Rich Riordan.  We took a school-wide vote in homeroom the day after the presidential election and the winner with 74% of the popular vote was... 

SUZANNE COLLINS!! 

(I'm really hoping it's because these kids read The Hunger Games and didn't just base their votes on the movie.)  So be it.  : )

Native American Month Display- 2012

To celebrate Native American Month in the library, we pulled our books on the topic and decorated with a little Native flair.  I created this dream catcher from a hula hoop, brown paper, beads/feathers, and twine.

Wouldn't it be fun to have a get-together in the library to make little ones?  What a fantastic skill to have.  It's really not that hard once you get the hang of it.

Then I created collages of images based on different tribes around the country (the sources are cited on the back), and made little banners with colorful ribbon and paper letter cut out on a Cricut die cut machine.  Word to the wise- laminating was a chore.  Well, not so much the laminating as cutting them out.

One of our library "collections" happens to be fabric!  (I {heart} fabric!)  All different colors and textures.  This soft corduroy made the perfect shelf cover.

What I'm most proud of is how many books we had to include in the display.  Our fiction collection alone would have made for an attractive one, but we can't forget about nonfiction, myths and legends, biographies and reference.  Anything students might want to know about our country's indiginous folks can probably be found here at our middle school.

And since the Lakota have no word for "goodbye," I'll leave you with a Happy Native American Month!

Teen Read Week 2010

October is a busy month in the library world.  I am appropriately thankful in November that the pace has somewhat slowed.  Nancy Price at Harmony Middle has helped me fill my little nerd notebook I keep in my purse with fun library ideas to get the kids engaged.

Here is a display I did recently at Blue Ridge Middle for Teen Read Week.  I included YALSA'S Best Books for Teens list and pulled titles based on favorites submitted from the faculty and staff.  Apparently, To Kill a Mockingbird, The Yearling, and and the Sweet Valley High series were very popular in the 70s-80s. 

I went with the Read Like a Rock Star theme and hit Party City for some flashy decor.  Those little CDs AOL used to send in the mail a long time ago came in handy.  I TOLD my husband I would use them for something one day!  : )

Banned Book Week

Wow!  It's been a while since I've posted- I've just been waaay too busy.  Lucky for me, one of the things keeping me busy these days is working in some middle school libraries here in Western Loudoun County.  Yeah, it's only volunteer, but the librarians are so appreciative for the help that they're willing to let me get my hands dirty. 

Here is a display I did at Blue Ridge Middle School for Banned Book Week! 

Honestly, this is one of my favorite weeks in the library world because we're celebrating our fREADom to read what we choose, not just what's available.  For more information on Banned Book Week, visit ALA's website.  It's chocked FULL of statistics, frequently challenged books, resource guides, etc.

I wasn't able to get my hands on a good see-through cage to put the pulled books in, so I DIY-ed some homemade aluminum foil chains.  At least my kids had fun helping... and the lettering was all done on my Cricut (a die-cutting machine).  Every school library should have a Cricut!

If you can't read what's on the iPod, the list is below.  It's the Top Ten Most Challenged Books list for 2010.


1.  ttyl, ttfn, l8r, g8r (series), by Lauren Myracle
Reasons: Drugs, Nudity, Offensive Language, Sexually Explicit, Unsuited to Age Group

2.  “And Tango Makes Three,” by Peter Parnell and Justin Richardson
Reasons: Homosexuality

3.  “The Perks of Being A Wallflower,” by Stephen Chbosky
Reasons: Anti-Family, Drugs, Homosexuality, Offensive Language, Religious Viewpoint, Sexually Explicit, Suicide, Unsuited to Age Group,

4.  “To Kill A Mockingbird,” by Harper Lee
Reasons: Offensive Language, Racism, Unsuited to Age Group

5.  Twilight (series) by Stephenie Meyer
Reasons: Religious Viewpoint, Sexually Explicit, Unsuited to Age Group

6.  “Catcher in the Rye,” by J.D. Salinger
Reasons: Offensive Language, Sexually Explicit, Unsuited to Age Group

7.  “My Sister’s Keeper,” by Jodi Picoult

Reasons: Drugs, Homosexuality, Offensive Language, Religious Viewpoint, Sexism, Sexually Explicit, Suicide, Unsuited to Age Group, Violence

8.  “The Earth, My Butt, and Other Big, Round Things,” by Carolyn Mackler

Reasons: Offensive Language, Sexually Explicit, Unsuited to Age Group

9.  “The Color Purple,” Alice Walker

Reasons: Offensive Language, Sexually Explicit, Unsuited to Age Group

10.  “The Chocolate War,” by Robert Cormier

Reasons: Nudity, Offensive Language, Sexually Explicit, Unsuited to Age Group