We have added additional
signage in our library to help students, staff, and parents find popular book series.
Each row of JF books now has four series listed on the front of the
shelves so that people can find books more easily. For the time being, we're limiting the list to four for each
row so there is no "signage clutter." In deciding which books to
showcase, we listened to what books most kids were requesting most often. It is hoped that kids will be able to find
books more easily, and this will also give kids more ideas of books to take out if they need extra help.
We embossed and bolded the
font to make it stand out more, and played around with color schemes, shapes,
and sizes for pictures and fonts. In
addition to these signs, we have chosen Calibri (sans-serif) and Cambria
(serif) as our official library fonts for signage, hand outs, etc. - helping us to make the library more cohesive. We are adding multiple colors to walls, purchasing bright tables, and creating lively displays also, so it's ok to have a little uniformity somewhere too in this regard. :)
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| New shelf signage helps kids finds books more easily. |
What's best is that each sign has a picture related to the series (character, logo, etc.). This adds more visual appeal to the library, and especially with some of our younger kids or ESL readers helps them find books they are more able to identify based on visuals.
We did these signs with
blue borders since our designated JF section is blue. We hope that kids who struggle with the
concept of categories or the difference between fiction and non-fiction will
find the color-coding helpful. One of
our big upcoming projects will also now be to color code the call numbers. All the JF books will say ‘JF’ in blue for
example. It adds color, makes books
easier to shelf read for staff, and reinforces in students’ minds that these
books go together.
Kids have responded positively to the signs and have demonstrated more confidence in selecting popular books they'd like to read. It also gives them more time to explore other books or ask us for suggestions and help.
We plan to do all of the
above with the non-fiction next, which currently has no extra signage other than the
new big red call numbers that we added.
We will highlight 4-5 key subjects (popular and/or tied to curriculum
units) for each row of books (once again not too much "signage clutter," giving us about 30 shelf signs in
non-fiction. For outerspace - we can put
a picture of Saturn, for plants – we can put a flower, and so on. We will use red borders since we have chosen
red as our non-fiction color.
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