PASSIONATE ABOUT SCHOOL LIBRARIES
These are my displays promoting the Book of the Year Notables and Short list.
Inspired by Shaun Tan’s artwork this year, I have used red, orange and yellow as my main theme colours. I used Outback as the font, which I downloaded from dafont. Yellow and orange crepe paper in a simple twist pattern create a quick and easy border.
Both the Notables list and Short list can be found on the CBCA website.
Book Week is a fantastic time for promoting libraries and engaging readers in a variety of activities to increase their connection with reading, Australian literature and library services. Here are just a few activity ideas, both my own and adaptions from others’, for this year’s Book Week.
Guest storyteller: Many libraries are fortunate to be able to afford a special guest visitor or author during the Book Week celebrations. This year storytellers, performers and Indigenous storytellers are sure to be popular. But if the budget doesn’t stretch to such an event, perhaps look within the library or school community. I’m sure someone within that population sticks out as a person who is good at spinning a yarn or has a knack for making a story spring to life. And if you still can’t find a willing victim, perhaps try an online video or retelling.
Group storytelling: Story cards and dice, such as Rory’s Story Cubes, are excellent for promoting storytelling with a group. While any story cards or flip chart would work I particularly like the Story Cubes (no, I’m not being paid to write this), as they are so tactile and pretty. But a cube net that students can create and design their own set of cubes would also work.
Bingo: I’ve promoted this Reading Bingo from Random House before, but I think it would make an excellent giant bingo game. Create a giant board by enlarging each square and laminating. You would also need smaller copy to cut up and place in a container from which to randomly draw each square. As a square is drawn players have to name a title that fits, e.g. A Book That Became A Movie – The Hobbit. Write the book title on the square on the giant board (use a whiteboard marker so that it can be erased to play multiple times). This could be played competitively, with the names of students also listed on the squares, in teams or simply to see how quickly a group can fill the whole grid or one line.
Scrabble or Bananagrams: Check out this post from Constantly Lovestruck about a giant game of bananagrams, with a list of how many tiles you will need of each letter.
Pac-Man: This librarian created a giant Pac-Man board on the floor of her library. Details can be found on the blog Tvahlsing.
Guess Who: I have seen giant Guess Who games and DIY Guess Who games using everyone from Bible characters to US Presidents. I would make a giant Guess Who game using book characters. You could use animated characters from popular titles such as Diary of a Wimpy Kid or instead use the actors that have become the iconic representations of book characters.
The theme for Book Week 2016, Australia: Story Country, offers plenty of great ways to celebrate and decorate!!! Here are some of the ways I hope to decorate the library for this year’s Book Week.
Every year the library displays the books on the Book of the Year Short list, which you can find on the CBCA website. 
This year a backdrop of hessian and Aussie road signs will decorate this display and give it an Aussie touch.
I plan to update the Reading Tree to a Coolibah Tree, like the one mentioned in Waltzing Matilda, changing the leaves to gumtree-shaped leaves. 
With a few neutral coloured pieces of fabric, the bench seats will feel a little more outback-like and a fake campfire in the centre of the area will create a great space to gather for storytelling. Hanging stars will give the area an-outdoor, storytelling under the stars feel.
Welcome to a new year. 2016 is set to be an exciting year for new books and new authors. Here is my list of titles to check out for January 2016. Click on the book covers for full reviews.
Firsts – Laurie Elizabeth Flynn – St. Martin’s Griffin – Published 5 January 2016
What a book. It’s like a car crash, crossed with an erupting volcano, crossed with a (insert disaster of your choice here). I knew it would be messy and upsetting, but I couldn’t look away. And yet, Firsts manages to pull it off. I was really hoping for a beautiful ending that would make the agony of the rest of the book worth it. And I’m very happy to say I think I got that ending. Full Review.
Young adult fiction: contemporary.
The Impostor Queen – Sarah Fine – Margaret McElderry Books – Published 5 January 2016
A solid fantasy, The Impostor Queens brings together a balance of magic, romance and action.
When Elli was just four years old she was chosen to be the girl who would become queen. But when the queen dies, the magic does not rush into Elli like it should. The priests are desperate for a ruler and threaten Elli’s very existence in their efforts to make her magic manifest. Scared, Elli runs, leaving the opulence of the temple for the harsh reality of life outside the city. Full review.
Young adult fiction: fantasy
The theme for Book Week 2016 has been announced – Australia: Story Country.
Book Week 2016 will run from the 20 – 26 of August 2016. Shaun Tan has illustrated the artwork.
Australia is a pretty amazing country with some diverse stories to tell, so the 2016 theme will allow for a huge range of ideas, displays and costumes (I’m imagining our library staff all dressed as jillaroos and jackaroos, just as a start). From the beach to the bush, Dreamtime stories, and Australian children’s classics, I can’t wait to explore this theme more.
Meanwhile, you can check out my Pinterest board, Library – Book Week, which I will be updating to reflect the 2016 theme.
Book Week 2016: Literary Signpost
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