1. Reading Takes You Everywhere| Summer 2018
free (or very inexpensive) ways to decorate your library!
presented by Elyse Barrère, YA Librarian, Los Angeles Public Library November 3, 2017
I started thinking about all the adventures and different worlds and dimensions you can be taken by books and how you’d get there…if you look at the elements of these displays they’re quite simple but when you put them together they look really great and can be done by staff, teens and volunteers.
November 3, 2017
Reading Takes You Everywhere| Summer 2018

2. paper airplane garlands
make paper airplanes out of lined paper, colored paper, white paper, book pages and maps. tape or hot glue to thread or twine to make garlands
Reading Takes You Everywhere | Summer 2018
November 3, 2017

3. rockets: Reading Takes You Everywhere | Summer 2018 November 3, 2017
cover water bottles with colored paper, make a little cone for the nose. add contrasting shapes and paint little silver dots for rivets. make tissue paper flames and attach to the end.
you can also use plastic water cups or coffee cups and make a different shaped rocket that looks like a little lunar module...
Reading Takes You Everywhere | Summer 2018
November 3, 2017

4. UFOs Reading Takes You Everywhere | Summer 2018 June 22, 2012
I took some paper plates and some paper bowls. Covered them with tin foil and taped them together. Then I attached a paperclip hook to the top and i colored clear plastic cups with a yellow sharpie and taped it to the bottom to make a little tractor beam. Then I taped colored shapes for lights and portholes. For extra fun hang a little cow or person inside the tractor beam as if they’re being stolen...
Reading Takes You Everywhere | Summer 2018
June 22, 2012

5. hot air balloons Reading Takes You Everywhere | Summer 2018
Start with some dollar store foam balls. I was going to paint them but that didn’t happen. Then i used a clean empty yoghurt cup, a small plastic cup and a cut off toilet paper roll. I covered them with wood patterned duct tape (but you can use whatever you want for the baskets. Then you just tape or hot glue string to the balls and attach the ends to the cups. I was worried about getting them to hang perfectly but they look sort of jaunty when they’re at a bit of an angle. I did need to put something in the cups to give them a little weight (i used erasers).
Reading Takes You Everywhere | Summer 2018
November,

6. blimps and dirigibles ta-da! 1. 5. 2. 4. 3.
Take a foam football from the dollar store (you might want to paint it if there’s scratches or anything in the paint. then slice three little slits in the end evenly-ish spaced. I punched out paper circles and cut them down. Then I slid them into the slits i made and voila! A blimp! if you hang a little basket from the bottom it’s a dirigible!
Reading Takes You Everywhere | Summer 2018
November,

7. butterflies: November, 3 2017
First I found a couple of different outlines of butterfly wings and used them as a template. I traced the shape onto a folded piece of paper and cut them out. I used opened mini paperclips to help keep the wings from collapsing when I hung them up, then you have to tape the thread or fishing line to the outer edges of the wings…you’ll have to adjust it a bit to get them to hang nicely. I made a loop from one to the other and then I tied a single piece of string from the middle to hang them…Use fishing line so it will be invisible and have a little swarm of butterflies! You could use book pages or maps as well.
November,

8. birds:
Here is the tutorial to make these doves. I just put the string at different places and that made them either hang upright or hang facing down…
November,

9. interactive display ideas…
post a map and have patrons add tags or pins to show where they’ll be traveling (do this with the postcard idea and tie string between the pin and the postcard)... post a map and put flags to mark where books are set
or where authors/characters are from...
where has reading taken you???
trips, college, adventures...
November,

10. and leave postit notes to get answers from your patrons!
create an interactive
display!
ask a silly question…
and leave postit notes to get answers from your patrons!
These were made with WordSwag and TitleFX. Another one to try is A Beautiful Mess.
November,

11. arrivals and departures section for new books and recently returned books... pocketbook display! (because little books are best for vacations and adventures!) best books about travel or airport...
November,

12. make little cars out of boxes for kids to sit in for library photo ops
or “drive in” movies… book displays about road trips and travel…
audiobook displays… (great for long drives!)
November,

13. and a tent for kids to play with... campfire stories
make a little campfire
and a tent for kids to play with... campfire stories
book display... scary stories display for adults and teens... ghost story/camping storytime...
post apocalyptic stories about people living in the rough...
November,

14. DIY campfire…
November,

15. how to DIY campfire…
You don’t have to use glue but it helps if you make flames for rockets or if kids might play with the “fire”…
Print wood images (best to do double sided so you don’t have white spots). Roll them into tubes & stick them together. Instant logs!
You can also use fabric or felt or cellophane for the fire and real logs or sticks for the wood.
There are also some really cute projects where people have made felt logs and felt fire with little felt s’mores and things. Pinterest!!!
November,

16. directional signs November, 3 2017
These were the super easy and simple version where i just printed the names of different places in fun fonts. Cut them out and taped them to pictures of wood like I used to make the logs for the campfire. I cut a little point into different sides and taped them to the end of a wall. They looked pretty good! You can get fancier with cardboard shapes and hand painted names. Or even fancier with actual pieces of wood!
November,

17. contact:
Elyse Barrère, YA Librarian Los Angeles Public Library
Your Library is a project of the California Library Association, supported by the U.S. Institute of Museum and Library Services under the provisions of the Library Services and Technology Act, administered in California by the State Librarian.
Reading Takes You Everywhere | Summer 2018
June 22, 2012