5 Resources to Produce Great Library Displays
by Angela Piccola, Senior Editor
I love searching through Pinterest for ideas on little known holidays and events to really boost our circulation numbers. Displays in general are a great way to introduce new ideas to your patrons. I think finding a way to creatively present an item intrigues patrons to further their curiosity by checking something out that they would normally overlook.
Good graphic design often makes or breaks an advertisement campaign. The same could be said for a library display. Producing something that is eye-catching is part of the great information you are providing to the patron. I love free resources that combine my love for information and visually striking images. These sites help to bring your displays over the top by adding a dash of imagination.
I practically squealed when I found this calendar with author birthdays and notable holidays. It’s very informative and has a nice outline if you were to print it off. I love having resources that compile dates and interesting facts making this one of my go-to calendars.
This site has many design elements and templates to choose from to produce quality graphics. I love their pre-made collections to incorporate with different fonts to produce something visually dynamic. Canva is my favorite tool to use because the interface is so user friendly and has so many great features. I have used this for many holidays and general blog posts.
Picmonkey is great for retouching photos, creating collages, and adding details to pictures. The different themes available are a good representation of holidays and overall trending topics. Adding a picture to this site is pretty fun to go through all the themes. There is fun comic and graphic novel looks while others are simple filters to make a picture cooler. Some features are part of their premium package, but most of their selections are free.
Create infographics in minutes with this site’s handy templates to produce eye-catching statistics. The homepage has premade infographics that are handy to get started, but their empty infographics are the best to really create something original. It functions kind of like Prezy, the presentation site, by providing directions on setup and connecting sections together. It also has a handy drag and drop editor to truly maneuver charts to look exactly like you envisioned.
I love typography and quotes. The combination of the two is this website. Enter in text for signage and the templates visually change to show the different looks. Since the templates are pre-made and the text is added to the page there is no way to alter the look further than changing the text.
Each of these sites can benefit a library by providing free software and information to promote their collections. Although these are great websites for displays, they can also be used for designs for websites and blogs associated with the library. Finding resources to benefit your patrons and collection is the best way to provide a quality experience.