The idea of a staff picks shelf is not a new idea in any way, but it is a new idea to our library. We’ve long had a section for our new acquisitions and also some display books, but beyond this we haven’t really had many outward facing collections. We recently got some new book displays (see below) at the library and with this we came up with some nice branding and signage for these book displays.

In 2019 we want to try to engage our community more with the collection and get people excited about different areas of the collection. Staff Picks are our way of doing just that. We thought that adding the voices of our staff to the displays would be a great idea. We’re all very different individuals and I think we can all resonate with different community members in different ways. I am very much a nonfiction kind of human being. Others on our staff read a lot of fiction and young adult. We have many areas where they overlap. Once everyone gets their displays together, there will be so much to share with the community that no area will go uncovered.

I am also super excited to get more of the staff involved in these kinds of things and to also get them writing. I love hearing from other people and I love reading their writing. My hope is that the community connects with the paragraphs that each staff member will write about their monthly staff picks. I know I have found myself getting lost in these writings and really appreciating what everyone is bringing to the table with their picks. You can see an example of one of these staff picks writings below.

As with everything we try out in the library, we will see how this goes and how the community reacts. For now, I hope we all have fun writing and sharing stories about the great things we’ve found in the library that inspire us. I think one of the key things that public libraries do these days is inspire communities to think, learn, share, act, and grow. This is just one small way we can inspire our community. What else can we do to inspire our community? I’d love to hear more from you.

Thanks for reading.