by Sarah Statz Cords
I’ve wondered for a while if it wouldn’t be helpful to RA staff to periodically see a list of display ideas relating to different months, days, times of the year, etc., listed here. So, in the hopes that late is better than never (forgot that February is a short month!) we’d like to offer a short list of display ideas and themes for the month of March. We’ll start with just the ideas, and perhaps later we can also include a starter list of titles, if we make this a regular feature. Please let us know in the comments or at rablog@lu.com if this sort of thing would be helpful (or if you have display ideas for the month you’d like to share)!
March is:
Employee Spirit Month
Expanding Girls’ Horizons in Science and Engineering Month
Humorists Are Artists Month
International Ideas Month
Music in Our Schools Month
National Craft Month
National Frozen Food Month
National Irish American Heritage Month
National Noodle Month
National Nutrition Month
National Peanut Month
National Reading Month
National Women’s History Month
Red Cross Month
Small Press Month
Social Workers Month
Holidays in March include:
Daylight Saving Time Begins (Spring Ahead): March 14*
The Ides of March: March 15
St. Patrick’s Day: March 17
National Quilting Day: March 20
Vernal Equinox (First Day of Spring!): March 20
Passover: March 29
March Famous Birthdays:
Alexander Graham Bell: March 3, 1847
Elizabeth Barrett Browning: March 6, 1806
Jack Kerouac: March 12, 1922
L. Ron Hubbard: March 13, 1911
Albert Einstein: March 14, 1879
Andrew Jackson: March 15, 1767
James Madison: March 16, 1751
Grover Cleveland: March 18, 1837
Lois Lowry: March 20, 1937
Louis L’Amour: March 22, 1908
William Shatner: March 22, 1931
Gloria Steinem: March 25, 1934
Robert Frost: March 26, 1874
John Tyler: March 29, 1790
Vincent Van Gogh: March 30, 1853
My Lone Idea for a Kids’ Display:
“In Like a Lion, Out Like a Lamb” (or vice versa)–with picture books featuring lions, sheep, and lambs
Sources include: Holiday Insights, Library ThinkQuest March, March Holidays (2010), The American Book of Days (Stephen G. Christianson), March Famous Birthdays
*Spring Ahead day, when we all lose an hour of sleep, is not so much a holiday as it is my least favorite day of the year.
CarolK,
Aggregating such display resources is a GREAT idea. Thanks for your efforts, first of all, in coordinating such a thing through Flickr and WebJunction. I hope your comment catches some eyes here and perhaps you can get a few more contributors!
We love the idea and here at RAO are talking over how such a resource could be hosted–stay with us! In the meantime we’ll keep posting monthly display ideas like this one, just as a place to start.
I love this concept of book display ideas, themes and pictures.
There does not seem to be one central place to gather this
information. Fiction_l (http://www.webrary.org) does a great job of creating lists and maintainingg said but lacks the pictures. I have been trying to get libraries to post their diplays to the RA forum at http://www.webjunction.org with limited success and flickr.com has individual pics of displays but little other information. If you can organize this and get librarians and staff to think of this as a one stop shopping place, count me in. You’re on the right track with your idea. We need this type of inspiration to help with RA and displays for our patrons.
You’re welcome, Michelle. I hadn’t thought yet about when to put April up. What would be the most useful kind of lead time for library staff, do you think? A week or two weeks before April 1?
This is very helpful. Thanks. When will April be up.
This sort of thing would definitely be helpful! A monthly feature like this would certainly generate a bucketful of display & programming ideas. Please continue on.
Lizzy-
You’re most welcome! We like to be of help.
And, of course, the OSCARS! I can’t believe I forgot that. Did you see our list a while back of adapted screenplay winners?:
http://www.readersadvisoronline.com/blog/index.php/2010/02/07/under-the-radar-past-and-present-oscar-nominees-for-best-adapted-screenplay/
Also of note, the Oscars will be airing March 7th. We’re doing a display of Oscar best picture winners.
Thanks so much for this very helpful list! I am forwarding it on to the librarian who tweets for us. She is always looking for this type of information.
Thanks Erin–and thanks for the PI Day URL (that’s a good idea). I actually left a ton of designated “days” out–I was a little surprised to find how many of them there were in just one month! Do follow up any of the “Sources” links and you can see tons more.
You did forget one holiday… March 14th is Pi Day! http://www.piday.org/