Art

Calendar Art Gallery

Take pages from an old art calendar and “frame” them with cardboard from boxes or even construction paper. Create your own Art Museum in your library. Be Creative: Cut out the faces of the people in the works of art and put the pictures of staff in them instead.  Or use the generator on www.faceinhole.com

Got Art Display
“Got Art?” Love those “Got Milk” ads? If you are creative, duplicate your favorite masterpiece or use one from an art calendar. Then add comments or fun facts to match the painting. Be Creative: Use the facts from biographies and books available in your collection and put those books on display as well.

 

Post Secrets

Instead of secrets, construct your own Post Dreams that children and teens can turn in anonymously and Display them somewhere in the library.

 

Children's Gallery

Invite children and/or teens to bring in their own artwork to put on display or display the artwork that is done in any of the summer programs.

 

Local Artists

Invite local artists to display their work (don't forget quilters, sculptors, papercrafters, etc.)

 

Avatars

Using www.meez.com create avatars for the staff and have the public guess which avatar is which staff member.

 

Creative Writing

Magnetic Poetry Display
If you have a magnetic surface, put up magnetic poetry and allow patrons to create their own poems. If you don't have a magnetic surface, bring in a cookie sheet and use a book stand to prop it up. Be Creative: Make your own magnetic poetry using the words "Be creative this summer and join the Summer Reading Club at the Elvis Presley Library." Make the words big and watch as patrons rearrange them to make their own statements, like "Be Elvis Presley this summer and join the creative library reading club!" Add a few extra words to encourage creativity, like "Have" and "Fun" and "Crazy".

Famous First Lines Display
If you have a bulletin board, put up as many first lines of books as you can, some famous and some obscure and allow patrons to guess. Have an adult version and a kid’s version. If you don't have a bulletin board use your entire library - place the lines in the area of the library where the book can be located. Be Creative: Try posting 100 first lines and offer a prize (even if it is just notoriety) to anyone who can figure out all 100.

Riddle Display
Post riddles at the reference desk or on a board daily or weekly. Tons of riddles can be found at www.riddlenut.com. Be Creative: If a child or teen answers the riddle correctly, allow them to enter their name into a drawing (again, even if it is just for notoriety or a certificate).

 

Program Displays
After a program, consider displaying the poems that were created (with permission of the poets, of course).  The concrete poems using Ellison or pre-cut shapes makes the most unique displays.  You could display the poems and have a local teacher or city official judge them. 

 

Post Secrets

Instead of secrets, construct your own Post Dreams that children and teens can turn in anonymously and Display them somewhere in the library.

 

Drama

Marquee

Make your bulletin board look like a Movie Marquee with clever "Now Showing: Summer Reading" or "Now Showing: Be Creative @ Your Library". Be Creative:  Use popular movie and t.v. show title and replace key words with library-related words: "Slumdog Librarian", "The Curious Library of Benjamin Button", "Days of our Librarians".  You can also use an online generator to create these Marquees.

 

Director's Corner

Set up a Director’s Chair Corner. Weekly Drawings pick the Director of the week who then picks the book of the week. Take pictures of the directors.

 

Face in Hole

Use www.faceinhole.com to put staff faces into famous movie posters.  Be sure to follow proper copyright procedures.

 

Masks

Display masks from different cultures with explanations of their uses.  Be Creative: Have a mask making program and display the finished masks.

 

Music

Music Through the Ages Display

Display musical formats through the ages -- music boxes, records, 8 tracks, cassettes, c.d.'s and ipods.

 

Music Notes

Hang Music notes from the ceiling. Be Creative: once children reach a certain number of books read, put their name on a music note and hang it on a wall of fame.

 

Famous People

Put up pictures of famous musicians or composers next to an interesting fact about them that was found in a biography.

 

Sheet Music

Use sheet music to decorate the background of a bulletin board and put musical book covers on display.

 

Instruments

Borrow real instruments and put them on display (best if you have a secure way to store them, of course)