2/13/14

"Why did you come to the library today?" Participatory Display

I've been tweeting bits from a current display at my library and receiving a lot of interest in it, so decided to blog it here, too. If you have a space for it, it's a simple way to raise awareness (both staff and patron) of the many different reasons people have for visiting your library, and the variety of library services they find valuable.

We have a 4' by 6' bulletin board in our lobby, currently covered with white paper, so patrons can write directly on it. At the top, I've prompted, "During the 69 hours we're open each week, people come to the Eden Prairie Library for countless different reasons. Pick up a pen and tell us...Why did you come to the library today?"

Below, some of the responses so far. We're keeping it up through the month of February. On Twitter, some have mentioned trying a version at their libraries as a week-long display for National Library Week, coming up in April. I think it'd be perfect for that (and now kind of wish we'd waited):













10 comments:

kdf_333 said...

thanks for a great display idea and away to promote National Library Week!

Emily Lloyd said...

Glad you like it--thanks!

Kristen said...

I love it! I work at a school library but could totally use this. Love all the cute responses and the variety!

Katrina said...

What a great idea! I can see this being a big hit in my school library! I can also see the comments being great feedback for improvements to the library/resources!

Michael A. Golrick said...

You could always repeat it for National Library Week.....it is a great idea.

Unknown said...

Wow! I like it. That's great. You should repeat it on National Library Week

kdf_333 said...

so i got my library to do this. thanks so much! we are using the bubbles from ALA and sticky notes. we figured that way we can remove any smartasss or dirty comments easier by doing that instead of one big piece of paper. i would love to show how i used the bubbles and your stars but i cannot figure out how to upload a doc or pic in comments.

Emily Lloyd said...

kdf--Cool! Thanks for letting me know--hope it goes well and you learn some neat things about how people are using your building!

Laurel Hall said...

I realize this is a very old post, but I finally convinced everyone at our library to go along with this for NLW, and we had an amazing response. I posted pictures on the library FB page. Best of all, it was the most passive program we have ever had - not even a single question about what it was about! Thank you for the wonderful idea!

Emily Lloyd said...

Oh, Laurel, it makes me so happy to read this! I'm glad it was so successful for you & your library. I checked out the FB photos and love that someone wrote "To do homework!" and another "To not do homework!" Bravo. Thanks for taking the time to comment about it.