This is a guest post courtesy of Kristyn Dorfman, a member of the Teen Read Week Committee.
This year’s Teen Read Week theme is Get Away @ Your Library. What is so great about this year’s theme is that it is so versatile. “Get Away” can mean whatever you want it to mean. You can adapt your displays to fit your library collection, your interests or the interests of your patrons.
If your teens are realistic fiction fans, go the travel route. You can highlight your collection of road trip titles. For your teens that like romance, stress titles where the meeting happens abroad. Bring on the gap year titles. It might be fun to display books that focus outside of the United States. You can create a map display and emphasize books written in or take place in other countries. We often tend to focus on North American titles but there are some great books out there that emphasize other parts of the world. However, there is no harm in staying local and you can create a map of the United States and have a title for each state. There are so many map possibilities.
If your teens enjoy science fiction set up your favorite Doctor Who display. 2015 is a great year to highlight Back To the Future, as it is the “future” featured in the 1985 film. You could even make a Back to the Future Timeline featuring titles spanning from 1955 to 2015. Westerns, books that take place in the 50s, books that take place in 80s, science fiction titles all work.
Don’t be afraid to feature some historical fiction titles as well. Let your patrons get away to another time period. You can pick a particular era or just go back in time in general. Don’t forget for a lot of your teens the 80s and 90s can be considered historical fiction. If you have a passion for those decades, get creative and show off some cassette tapes and big hair.
This year’s theme is so adaptable and so open to your own interpretation that you can really emphasize your collection’s strong suit or your own passions. Displays are often best when the creator is interested in the theme or selections. Think about what you love and how that can be an example of getting away.
For more information on displays check out our Pinterest page here.
Also head over to the ALA store for fun TRW merchandise.
For those who want more ideas check out these sample book titles below:
Road Trip Reads:
- Going Bovine by Libba Bray (2010 Printz Award, 2010 Best Fiction for Young Adults)
- Paper Towns by John Green (2009 Best Fiction for Young Adults)
- The Disenchantments by Nina Lacour
European Romance:
- Just One Day by Gayle Forman
- Wanderlove by Kirsten Hubbard
- Flirting in Italian by Lauren Henderson
Historical Fiction:
- The Luxe by Anna Godbersen
- Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein (2013 Printz Honor Award)
- Between Shades of Gray by Ruta Sepetys (2012 Morris Honor Award)
Fantasy:
- A Corner of White by Jaclyn Moriarty
- Graceling by Kristin Cashore (2009 Morris Honor Award)
- Sabriel by Garth Nix (2009 Popular Paperbacks)
Science Fiction:
- The Knife of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness (2010 Top Ten Amazing Audiobooks, 2009 Best Books for Young Adults)
- Ruby Red by Kerstin Gier
- Unwind by Neal Shusterman (2008 Top Ten Quick Picks for Reluctant Readers, 2011 Popular Paperbacks for Young Adults)
International Reads:
- Jellicoe Road by Melina Marchetta (2009 Printz Award)
- Nothing by Janne Teller
- Akata Witch by Nnedi Okorafor
If you need help developing display ideas or just want to see what else can be done you can check out the Teen Read Week Ning Site Here! We would love to see all the different and amazing things you are all doing!
Kristyn Dorfman is a Middle and Upper School Librarian at the Packer Collegiate Institute in Brooklyn, New York. She also occasionally writes reviews for School Library Journal. She is a new mom that loves reading and watching TV shows serially when she can.