In my opinion, one of the best and most fun ways to promote our library’s fiction collection is through displays. I work on the display committee for my library, and we work very hard to get a diverse and interesting collection of books around a theme every month to promote our titles. While we don’t just stick to fiction, we try to get a diverse collection so there’s something that could catch anyone’s eye. We also try to make the themes centered around different programs we are having at our library. For example, this month we had a party for the eclipse, so we had a table with books about eclipses and space. While we had many nonfiction books, we added many fiction books which feature an eclipse, like Ana Maria and the Fox by Liana De la Rosa and Murder Under a Red Moon by Harini Nagendra. Next month, we will have a table focused on gardening, as there will be a gardening symposium at our library. Our display tables are front and center when you enter the library so it’s a great place to highlight our collection and the different events we have.
Another way my library markets our fiction section is to have dedicated book lists. Our reader’s advisory committee curates these lists and they are posted on our website. Some of these revolve around holidays (Halloween, Valentine’s Day, etc.), others focus on celebrations like Black History Month or Pride, and others are in partnership with people in the community, like our news station’s meteorologist or our local PBS station. These are great for those looking for a curated list, and it tells you the availability of the items in our system.
Our library has a relatively new event we host yearly called Book Con, which is a celebration of our local author collection. We invite local authors and community partners for a day to celebrate their works and connect with the community. Many of the authors write fiction, including romance, graphic novels, and mystery. This has been very successful in showcasing the author talent we have in our community and connecting those authors with our patrons.
The idea of having a book con sounds like such a great way to connect the community with wonderful authors and to give readers the chance to ask questions and learn about other creators that they may have not read before. It is such a unique and fun way to go about showing off new books to the world, as well as some older classics from local authors.
ReplyDeleteI love the idea of a Book Con. We had a Pride event that centered on artists that are LGBTQIA+ and it was a Con. We had cosplay as well as panel talks. It was great. I loved how the community gathers for a con and everyone shares.
ReplyDeleteThose are all great ideas! I love that you call it a book con - what a great idea!!
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