GIFSL*: 23. Noticeboard

We have a noticeboard behind the borrowing desk.  It used to look like this:

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...which, as I realised after listening to Kevin Hennah's presentation last year, was all about us, the library staff.  Rosters, timetables, phone numbers, calendar (TWO calendars), the odd funny picture.  A couple of kid-related items - how many things you can borrow and how long for.  But, by and large, an opportunity wasted.

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So we took pretty much all of that stuff off the noticeboard.  The rosters etc went into a folder we keep at the borrowing desk, easy to consult.
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I didn't want just one thing on the board - our school name, or some such.  This, like our bookcase, is a chance to promote various things to the students through the year, sell sizzle, encourage borrowing/reading/library use and so forth.  Every few weeks, it changes, the refreshing of its contents a reflection of the fact that the library isn't a static place.

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So here are a couple of more recent views of the noticeboard behind the borrowing desk:
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This is fairly plain vanilla - I only had one Harmony Day poster.  But that, plus the local library's promotional posters for Youth Week, represent things relevant to our kids. 

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We have left several items on the board as standard: on the left, our 'wish for the year' and just one calendar (checked each day as we turn over the date due stamps).  On the right, and on a standard proforma, standard teal coloured paper, the notices about how many books can be borrowed, and for how long, and our laminating rates.  And we did put our exterior paint colour chips up there, as we were dreaming...

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This is the noticeboard when holiday borrowing was on.  The pictures are from a recycled calendar, and the bookmarks and prizes (toothbrush/eggs) part of our prize draw.  Having them up there prompted questions and engaged the kids.  We plan to reuse the holiday borrowing poster (and the bookcase header I've blogged about before) when holiday borrowing comes around again.  For one, why reinvent a rather nice looking wheel, and for two, the return will be recognised as a signal of holiday borrowing by the kids.  Maximum effect for less effort!
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There will be more pictures of the noticeboard here as time goes on, but for now, why not see what your library noticeboards say?  What they contain, and how else you could organise them?  Doesn't have to be costly, not at all.  It's more about thinking, and looking at what you have with fresh eyes.  Like it or not (as I realised when I looked at our noticeboard before changing it) it's one of the messages you're sending about the library and its priorities.
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Cheers, Ruth
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*GIFSL = Good Ideas For School Libraries