Back to School Reads for Grownups

Let’s talk about back to school displays and lists for your adult leisure readers. Yes I said adult leisure readers.

Look, we spend a lot of time at the public library promoting back to school. This makes sense as it is one of our core services. But as a grown-up who gets a bit nostalgic for my school days as I send my kids back to school, I know I would appreciate a back to school inspired list for me. I know I am not alone.

But rather than simply putting up a display of books with an academic setting, what about reads that capture adults' nostalgia for school days and/or leisure reading titles that speak to our desire to learn new things?

Here are some lists to inspire you to make a back to school display for the grownups. Then you can sit back and watch the books fly off the shelf.

• Link it all back to the kids with this list of Five Great Novels for Grown-Ups by Famous Children’s Book Authors.
• Appeal to the adults’ nostalgia for the great books of their youth with this list of 30 Young Adult Books Every Adult Should Read.
• For the last couple of years, Neal Wyatt has made Back to School for Grown-Ups a topic in one of her fall columns in Library Journal.
• The Santa Fe Reporter ran an article with Back to School reading suggestions for grown-ups earlier this month.