Small Displays as an Interactive Scavenger Hunt

One of my favorite things to do is small displays-- clusters of books on an end cap or the end of a shelf with some room, even on the service desk. These small groupings of 3-8 books (max) draw interest on their own; in fact you don't even need a sign.

The stacks are intimidating to browse for most readers and a small cluster of face out books, no matter what is the thing uniting their appearance together, will bring people to investigate what they are. 

However, I admit, it is sometimes difficult to cone up with ideas on what to books to pull for these smaller displays and I am not one for just grabbing whatever is lying around. You can make it look that casual, but you are doing your patrons a disservice if you do not put thought into the books you are highlighting for them. 

One easy way to do small groupings of titles based loosely on genre that don't need a lot of effort to pull is to use lists from places like Goodreads. Here is a recent example, "The 104 Most Popular Fantasy and Science Fiction of the Past 3 Years." Also "Fact vs Fiction History Edition! Pick Your Reading Reality."

These lists and others genre based options are always available on the Goodreads News and Interview blog here. Visiting that page at anytime will give you easy ideas for clusters of books and they tend to do grouping by genre (with a very wide definition of said genre) and include back list. 

Now some of you will still want to put a "sign" or title on these groupings. I get it. So here are 2 ideas on how to make this easy for you to fill displays with books and fun for your patrons. I suggest doing both in tandem.

1. Pick a theme for your small cluster displays and commits to sprinkling them around the library each month. Announce said theme on your website and have a place with a sign in the building as well. So for this month you can use "Popular Fantasy and Science Fiction You May Have Missed," and you use that Goodreads list from above (and other SF/F best lists) to fill the displays. You let people know that the books with this theme will be scattered throughout the library for the month. You closer them, where you can especially on the end of shelves where there is room for a book or 2 or 3 to be placed face out. You make lists on Libby of these titles and place QR codes near the signage to have people explore the digital collections. 
2. You have can make little shelf talkers to hang from the shelves where you put the books or a small sign for your end cap slatted displays and or your service desk that say, ""Monthly Library Scavenger Hunt Titles." Or something similar. Use the phrase "Scavenger Hunt" though. Why? Well first, that is what it is. You are coming up with a topic and scattering the books around, chasing up where they are. We want patrons to visit, find good books, but also have an experience that makes them want to come back and visit again for more books. This is a fund game that will lead them to books they never would have found without your help and it is super easy for you to fill. Second, you can make the signage once and reuse it and/or move it around easily. 

Don't underestimate how much adults like a good scavenger hunt. They will come back in a new month to follow the trail to find a whole new grouping of books. And while I suggest starting with the Goodreads blog, that is not the only place you can find these ideas. Any resource that I write about here or that you like to use will work.

Also, this type of display encourages people to peruse your entire collection. Yes the stacks are intimidating to the average library user, but if they have a reason to get in there and browse the shelves, they will also stop and look at other titles. It is getting them in there that is hard. Once they are in a row and looking at your scavenger hunt display titles, some percentage of them will pull a few there titles off the shelf. Maybe it is an author they have heard of and never read, maybe it is an old favorite, whatever the reason, you are getting patrons to interact with the collection in ways they did not before.

Adults like to have fun at the library too. Too many of you forget that. This is also an idea that you can empower staff from all across the library to help with. Brainstorm ideas together. Find a list of titles from a resource to use as the pull list. Then get everyone who wants to be involved in pulling titles for readers to find. 

Give it a try. And have fun with it. Don't be too worried about signage and having all the books in one place. Once you get started, your patrons will never want you to stop. Trust me, my Trader Joe's has had a scavenger hunt to fine a monkey since they opened. It has expanded to include 2 more stuffed animals that they hide weekly and I swear the adults love it as much as the kids. And most importantly, it brings people back to the store each week. We want our patrons to be repeat visitors as well. Give them a reason more than the books or a program. Get them to plan a visit to do your scavenger hunt every month. And watch those titles you highlight fly off the shelves as a result.