One of the things I love most about having a genrefied library is that it is constantly evolving and allows us the flexibility to meet student needs and interests. So, when Romantasy became a big thing, we decided to jump on that trend and respond to the love our students have for romantasy.
What is romantasy
Romantasy is not new. It’s been around for a long time, but it’s new in being identified in that way, as almost a separate genre from fantasy. Good luck finding any epic fantasy these days, pretty much all of it being published for the YA and NA market is romantasy. As the name indicates, Romantasy is fantasy with a lot of romance. The plot is character and relationship driven. And it’s wonderful.
Why romantasy in a school library?
Because students love it! Students are loving romantasy, following all the trends and devouring these books.
But, a lot of them are published for the adult market or are being targeted towards upper YA or are including way more spice (a nice way of saying sex) than I’m comfortable with including in my school library. So, we have to be careful with what romantasy we are adding to the shelves.
Why a separate section?
Why not? Our collections are all about highlighting different genres and helping students to find the books they love. Of course we already have romantasy on the fantasy shelves but creating its own section highlights it. It also shows that the library is in tune with what the students are reading, wanting to read and what they call these books. Yes, they are fantasy, but creating its own section makes it special. And anything we can do to increase student engagement with the library is key.
Creating a genre sticker
Of course a new section needs a new genre sticker. Canva Magic Media (AI) came to my rescue by creating these beautiful stickers. Thanks to Merchandising Libraries for printing them and getting them to us so quickly.
New signs
Thankfully, I create my own signs and so creating a new Romantasy Sign was super simple, once I finally got around to it. Here’s how I create my signs.
Making space
Ah, this was perhaps the hardest part, making space on our silly bookshelves (have I told you how much I detest our library shelving?). With a section of our building out of action due to water damage, our fantasy collection was all over the place, so we made room by shuffling things along in our new book area to create space for our new collection. Eventually it will go up near the fantasy, but a whole shuffle might be in order.
Marketing the collection
So far we’ve only promoted the collection via email, assemblies and relaunching our Romantasy book club but I’ve also got plans for posters, and a pop-up display. Might also try creating some merchandise with the spine label image.
Student reaction
Once I told some students we were creating this section their first reaction was squeals of excitement and asking if we could turn the sticker into badges and bags…so of course we will. Hence the merchandise.
They are enjoying the section and asking for new books to be added. That’s why I love genrefied collections, there is such a flexibility that allows us to adapt to student interests and trends.
What collections have you added or maybe removed recently in your collection?