Library furniture find

I've been keeping an eye out for a shelf unit to use at the entrance to the library to display new books. We've had them on tables, and thought about converting a study carrel desk we had, but *meh* - why is it so often in school that you're making do, making do?

I've looked around at library suppliers (big $$), places like Officeworks, Ikea...

...but found what I want at Target, and they're on special this week, in Sydney at least.

It's a 3 x 4 shelf cube unit in dark wood laminate, and unlike some there is a back on it (it's a relation of the Ikea Expedit type of shelving unit), so it's a set of dark wood boxes that it seems to me will have many possibilities.

They're normally $199, on special this week until 19 June for $99. Self assembly, but that's not too hard to do.

I tried putting a couple of books on the shelves at Target, just to see how it looked. Even large ones fitted in the spaces, and the dark background gave the books a certain impact. I noticed earlier this year that a large and very well funded private school library I was in displayed their new books on dark shelves, and filed that little nugget away for reference.

For the staff development day at the beginning of next term, we're being given most of the day, and a very small budget, to do some 'they have to be visible' renovations. It was done last year, and classrooms were painted, spaces reorganised, jobs that don't get done for lack of time or other reasons, did get done...and so it's happening again (it was popular with the staff and the work done noticed by the students).

We've got our eye on the foyer/entrance of the library, and so this shelf unit is a good beginning. I want to renovate the foyer/entrance to have impact and excitement, so the kids will walk into the library and the specific atmosphere of a place where things happen, things are possible, and learning is exciting.

Budget? Small. Ideas? Big!