Super Reading 2015 Including Outside the Box [and Easy] Display Ideas

Sunday is the big game between the Seattle Seahawks and the New England Patriots.  So for today, I have a few reading suggestions for those of you who like to match your reading to current events and a display idea for libraries looking to try something new, but still easy.

First, here is everything I have ever labelled football on this blog.

Next, here are some links if you want to go with the setting rather than the football theme:

• If you want to root for Seattle try this list of Seattle Fiction from the Seattle Public Library or this list of Goodreads users' favorite Seattle books [Note: Don't forget both 50 Shades of Grey and Twilight are Seattle set.]
• If you want to root for New England there are of course many options; almost too many, so I suggest starting with the Goodreads list. I could be here all day listing places to find books from this birthplace of American Lit, but this crowdsourced list will keep you plenty busy.

Finally, why not make a fun display using these 2 ideas.  I much prefer the set in Seattle vs. set in New England idea for a display over just football books because it is more creative.  Patrons tend to appreciate it when we think outside the box with our displays. And the more outside the box we are, the more they notice.

So yes, football reads are expected. But it would take only a few minutes more to print out a picture of the two team logos, use the links I provided, and go grab a handful of books set in the 2 opposing regions.  

Find a shelf, desk, cart, or counter-- even the circ desk will do-- and cluster the books around their team logo.  Then sit back and watch people flock to the books. You can even keep track of who your community thinks is going to win based on the checkouts of these books.

This will also make for an awesome marketing opportunity.  Most libraries that are open on Sundays, will be closing just before kickoff. Why not quickly tweet out or post to Facebook what the community's book vote says about who they think will win.  Which region got more checkouts this weekend? Our readers pick a winner with their reading choices! 

Again, this idea is fast, easy, fun, but most importantly, it is creative and unexpected, which means you will have a better chance of standing out and being noticed. Being noticed means people think you are relevant to their lives, and that is the goal of every public library-- to be relevant to their communities.

If you try it out, let me know.

On a side note, having grown up in NJ and having spent 4 years of college in MA, I was not surprised by how much New England set fiction I have read, but looking at the Seattle lists, I was very surprised by how many Seattle set books I have read and enjoyed. 

For me, I am rooting for the humor of Where'd You Go Bernadette to win out over the mastery of Nathaniel Hawthorne. [Truth be told, I love Nathaniel Hawthorne enough to have named my kid after him, but I am a New York Giants fan through and through and cannot root for the Patriots no matter how much I prefer the authors of the region. ]

See some of you at ALA Midwinter in the next few days.