March/April 2006
Worth a Second Look
Aldean Kilbourn
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Hawthorne, Karen and Jane E. Gibson. 2002. Bulletin Boards and 3-D Showcases that Capture Them with Pizzazz. Vol. 2. Westport, CT: Libraries Unlimited. 142 pages. ISBN#1-56308-916-5. $26.50.
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Serritella, Judy. 2002. Look Again! Appealing Bulletin Board Ideas for Secondary Students. Worthington, OH: Linworth Publishing, Inc. 145 pages. ISBN# 1-58683-053-8. $36.95.
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Creative bulletin boards are an ongoing public relations tool for every library. They can be relatively easy to construct if one consults such books as Look Again! Appealing Bulletin Board Ideas for Secondary Students by Judy Serritella and Bulletin Boards & 3-D Showcases That Capture Them with Pizzazz Vol.2 by Karen Hawthorne and Jane E. Gibson. Both books are geared to the K-12 school librarian, but much of what is included would be useful for public librarians too, especially for the children’s and teens’ rooms. Hawthorne and Gibson suggest that library bulletin boards and showcases motivate student learning because of their visual emphasis.
Serritella’s ideas evolved into the book Look Again! after development of her Web site, Bulletin Board Ideas for High School Media Specialists and a funding grant from the Georgia Library Media Association. Hawthorne’s and Gibson’s volume two With Pizzazz reworks bulletin board ideas from volume one and adds new layouts. Both provide valuable instructions on how to start, gather and put bulletin boards together.
Helps for Visual Design and Organization
Although all of their examples assume a board or showcase, Hawthorne and Gibson note that there are really no boundaries to visually capturing patrons’ attention through a creative use of space. Walls, the ceiling, corners, covered boxes stacked in an alcove or on side tables, stand-up boards, windows, even blackboards will work. Both books favor multi-dimensional presentations, as well as interactive displays. Lists of materials, sources for props, along with hints, suggestions, and guidelines immensely ease the path of the neophyte bulletin board constructor plus they provide the veteran librarian with new ideas.
Serritella’s examples couple a title with an "informationative" (teaching) concept and add a materials-needed ("ingredients") section. For example, to promote the library’s 300 section, she poses a title, Clothes Calls!, then suggests mounting "book jackets about fashion, costumes, sewing, and manners of dress and attire around the board" on colorful fabric covering the spotlighted area. Hawthorne and Gibson provide visuals, information on background, border, lettering, flooring (showcases), props, and instructions for creating the examples along with suggesting several titles. Their format has a bulletin board example on one page followed by a showcase example on the next page, both using the same theme.
For those without a graphic or art background, Hawthorne and Gibson supply several pages on the principles of design -- balance, movement, unity, and simplicity, and tools of design, referencing space, shape, texture, size, line arrangement, and color. In a straightforward manner that is easy for the non-artist librarian to comprehend, With Pizzazz helps any reader visualize a display and learn to identify why it is appealing. Reading through their book, one finds a long list of catchy and unorthodox slogans (e.g., Rakin' in a Good Book, Readin' to Your Sweetheart, and Moonlight Reading Madness), along with 3-D ideas for building eye-catching, appealing and thought-provoking bulletin boards. They suggest that many common materials in the supply lists may be obtained gratis if friends, colleagues, acquaintances, students and their parents are alerted in advance. Recognizing that display materials need storage, the authors provide tips for storing and protecting materials. Hawthorne and Gibson include nine months of feature ideas and black-line master planning sheets for years of bulletin board creations without repetition. The table of contents and the index are thorough.
Bulletin Boards – An Aid for Collaboration
Look Again! compiles a variety of bulletin board tips and ideas, along with timesaving hints for the busy librarian. In the table of contents, the thirteen chapters are divided by interest and topics found in the school setting, but no index is included. Serritella suggests finding students who will help make and set up bulletin boards, using fabric over paper to avoid wasting trees, and to practice recycling by laminating borders, letters, shapes, etc. for repeated use. She provides excellent beginning and ending of school layouts: "Harry Potter Goes to High School" ties in high-interest series books with school experiences, while "In Due Time," reminds students that their books must be back in the library as school closes. "You Can't Judge a Book By Its Movie" and "Reel Alternatives" encourage reading of books that became movies. It is often a surprise to students to discover that the book came first. Serritella devotes one chapter to ways of incorporating Mike Eisenberg's and Bob Berkowitz's Big6 (1987) information problem-solving process into ten bulletin boards focusing on doing research. The themed bulletin boards offer a complement to study units used by teachers and so provide opportunities for collaboration with teachers. Serritella also highlights themes for collaborative displays on heroes, careers, nutrition, and the heart. "Quit Your Whining" targets fiction and biographies about people who've overcome adversities such as health problems, physical handicaps, familial dysfunction, poverty, or disasters. A delightful last chapter contains quotations about libraries, librarians, books, and reading that can be incorporated into non-thematic displays, appended to communications with faculty, or used in speaking.
Each book has strengths. Hawthorne and Gibson’s sketches of boards and showcases visually demonstrate what to do; a librarian could simply recreate what’s pictured. Serritella’s book encourages the librarian to be creative; the results would reflect the artistic work of the librarian. Both would be useful. For personal use, or as a gift to your favorite librarian, these books are highly recommended.
References
Eisenberg, Mike and Bob Berkowitz. (2001-2006). Big6 (1987): An Information Problem-Solving Process. http://www.big6.com/Accessed 9 January 2006.
Serritella. Judy. (2005) "Bulletin Board Ideas" Clayton County Public Schools (Jonesboro, Georgia). http://www.clayton.k12.ga.us/edusvc/instruct/bulletinboards/index.asp. Accessed 9 January 2006.
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Aldean Kilbourn is a student in the MLIS program at the University of Washington.
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