Are you looking for a fun way to highlight your graphic novels? Then look no further than these display ideas!
You can spend as much money as you choose to make this super special section pop! I used a mixture of items I found online and a smidge of creative collaboration with my Library Assistant.
And you can, too.
Before you even begin creating a display, make sure your Graphic Novels are in the perfect spot.
Originally, our Graphic Novels were crammed on a stand alone shelf mixed in after other fiction. This just felt so tight.
So, we moved them to a shelf along the wall to give them more room to breathe. There definitely was more space for the Graphic Novel Collection. But, the space itself was still crammed.
Not only did the books still look crowded, but the children were crowded as they browsed this popular section.
If your Graphic Novels aren’t working in their current location, look around the library to find the perfect spot.
It took us a couple of months, but we finally did. We just needed to answer 2 very important questions before moving them again.
Who knew that Librarians used math?
Well, we did some simple math to determine where we had about the same number of shelves as what were currently being used.
We knew that we needed at least 12 shelves to fit our current Graphic Novel collection.
And we also knew that we wanted some space to display Graphic Novels. We wanted to highlight new books to the collection and include more forward facing books on the shelves.
In addition, we also wanted to make sure that there would be space for the collection to grow. Especially since it is a popular section of the library!
Once we found the space to house and grow the Graphic Novel collection, we had to consider the impact this move would have on the flow of the library.
For one, we wanted the children to have more room as they browsed the section. There’s no need for them to be climbing over each other to find the books they want.
For another, how would the move impact how the books flowed within the library? We really wanted to make sure that it made sense in the grand scheme of how children may move around in the library.
Are there other books that make sense to put near the Graphic Novels? Books that may also get a lot of traffic? Or that could use an increase in traffic?
Most libraries do not have wall space to display anything. Most of the space is dedicated to shelving books.
The space we chose happened to have bulletin and dry erase boards hanging on the wall. This is unusual in our library, and I’m willing to bet in yours, too.
Even if we didn’t have this awesome wall space, we would have done something similar.
As a matter of fact, we had already decided to create a display when the Graphics were along the wall. We were going to use the top shelves to make the Graphic Novel collection stand out.
So, no you do not need wall space to create a fun display. You can absolutely do something similar on a top shelf, the small space between the top of a shelf and the ceiling, or even along the shelf edges.
Once we moved the books, we were ready to make it pop and draw eyes to it!
We spent a lot of time choosing how to decorate this area.
We knew that we wanted a fun sign to name the section. As you know, signage is key in a library. We wanted it crystal clear what was over here.
And then, we knew we just wanted to be whimsical and have fun.
Each decision was deliberate!
You can see more photos that show what we did along the way.
We had a lot of fun making this Graphic Novel Sign! We used:
As soon as we put it up, we loved it!
This display cost us NOTHING to make!
First, we put up some dark purple bulletin board paper to give it the look of twilight.
Then we cut & laminated strips of black construction paper to make this window pane. We decided to have 12 panes, and you can have any number that makes sense for your display
Last, we cut out silhouettes of popular graphic novel characters. We laminated them and popped them into different panes.
Originally, we had thought we’d use paper lanterns with comic callouts on them. This was when we were keeping the Graphic Novels along the wall.
In the end, we landed on these fun streamers. They made our dollar go further and gave us more control over how to cluster and spread them out.
There are a couple of benefits of moving the Graphic Novels to this area beyond the space.
One is that now this area stands out from the makerspace next door. Those windows are what separates the library from the makerspace. This space is used for so many different reasons and events. Even the adults peek through the window to see!
Another is that you can clearly see the display from the hallway. It’s a really fun way to show how much we celebrate reading in our library! So many students have stopped in to check it out and ask questions.
I giggle when they ask what it is, and just ask them what do they think it is? This really encourages them to take a closer look and read the signage!
A third benefit that we’re pretty excited about is using that spinner rack for other books. They currently hold different series. Because the series are currently on the opposite wall.
BUT, we’re taking those series off this spinner and moving Illustrated Novels to it.
This makes a lot of sense to us because our kids who frequently want Graphic Novels, also enjoy Illustrated Novels. Some Illustrated Novels we’ll move over here:
We are pretty excited about how much more traffic this display and change of location has already created in just a couple of days!
What are some fun ways you highlight sections in your library?
