Book Week 2015: Library Display #1

Celebrated in Australia from 22 August to 28 August 2015, Book Week is a fantastic time to celebrate books, authors, illustrators, readers and all those involved in the book industry, from publishers to librarians. And in our library, celebrations mean displays!!

Here is the first of many displays I am working on for our Book Week celebrations:

Books For Starry Nights.

This display is a mix of  Van Gogh’s Starry Nights and the illustration from the last page of short-listed book The Duck and the Darklings. The swirls of colour used to illustrate this wonderful and imaginative book work so very well with Van Gogh’s painting.

The themes of light, story, hope and knowledge are also nicely reflected in this year’s Book Week theme, Books Light Up Our World.

I painted this display onto the set of four windows that sit behind the circulation desk. I used a mix of  window paint, the recipe for which you can find here, and washable chalk markers. I also printed a line of text from the story to highlight the theme, as well as another relevent quote that we are using in a Book Week Quote Quest.

I am completely thrilled with how the display turned out. As I was painting it I received plenty of positive comments, and I was surprised at how many students recognised and were able to name Van Gogh’s work.

I started by outlining Grandpapa and Peterboy. But as I was painting in the background I realised they weren’t standing out as much as I wanted so I used an enlarged photocopy of the characters to stick over the painting. This retains their black-outline-with-white style that works so well in the story and makes them standout.

“Please Grandpapa, fill our darkness with light, warm our wintry hearts with your stories.” I used the font KG Two is Better Than One for the text, which was the closest font to that used on the cover of The Duck and the Darklings.

Paper Lights

Hanging Book Houses

To match the Books for Starry Nights display is a collect of paper house lanterns made from recycled book pages. These hang from the lights that surround the circulation desk. Each contains an electric tealight. I can’t wait to see them all lit up with the library lights off during our Book Week celebration.

A large number of books have recently been weeded from our collection and those in the worst condition have been marked for upcycling. A few of them have now begun their new life as book-inspired lighting.

I have  created a template for the paper houses and an instruction page. You can download them here:

Paper House Instructions pdf

Paper House pdf

My inspiration for this display came from this amazing hanging light from Hutch Studio and these paper lanterns from Sweet Paul.

If you liked this check out Book Week 2015 Display 2 and Book Week 2015 Display 3.