Wednesday, May 20, 2009

GIFSL*: 26. Face-out Fiction

When you look at bookshops, it's all about the covers, books face-out to entice browsers to engage and then to buy.
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For a school library, there may not be space to have lots of books face out.  But there are always opportunities.  The ends of shelves are one.  We can't afford slat-wall, or some of the other solutions, but I wanted to do something about the shelf ends in fiction, for starters.  Since a lot of our shelving is against the wall, we don't have as many 'ends' as some libraries. 
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But take a look at fiction.  The picture books are in a face-out stand, and the free-standing spinner more than earns its keep - we are constantly refilling it. But on those tall shelf units, blank ends.  An opportunity for improvement. 
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fiction shelves before
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Then I found some perspex pockets at Office Max (they were cheaper than I found at Officeworks).  When you're searching for these, 'brochure' or 'brochure holder' seems to be useful keywords.  We bought enough for the top three shelves, plus some self-adhesive hook and loop tape.  And thus you have...
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fiction shelves after
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...enticing books at eye level, books rather than blank shelf ends.  We are going to improve the letter signs, and we may buy more perspex pockets for the bottom shelves - weren't sure if these would get bingled by kids or trolleys.  The A5 pockets hold most fiction books and were around $10 each.  Not cheap, but not impossibly expensive either - certainly cheaper than slat-wall.
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What you need: some brochure holders (ours are wall-mounted rather than free-standing) and some self-adhesive hook and loop tape (when I priced brand-name Velcro, made in the US, versus hook and loop tape, made in China, at Bunnings Hardware, the same size - 2.5m x 25mm white self-adhesive - was over $25 for the Velcro vs $4.95 for the other).  We put a couple of vertical strips of the tape on the shelf/holder, and it's hidden when there's a book on display.
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We have plans for downstairs in nonfiction, too.  Later...
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Cheers, Ruth
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* GIFSL = Good Ideas For School Libraries

4 comments:

Fiona said...

Brilliant!!! I know the old saying goes - Don't judge a book by its cover - but I find looking at covers very helpful when I want to choose something to read.

Lynda said...

What a brilliant idea re.perspex brochure holders and Face Out Books. I think this will work for us!
Thanks for sharing your blog with us via OZTL NET...Much appreciated!
Lyn

Lynda said...

Thanks for the inspiring idea re. face out books and the perspex brochure holders. Can't wait to try this. Thanks for sharing your wonderful blog on OZTL NET.
Much appreciated!

Annsmith said...

Hi,
I was searching for brochure holders and i came to know about this post.I like the concept of perspex pockets.. nice idea!!!!!!!!!