Advertising Books

How to advertise a book? Let me count the ways....

1. Bulletin boards or other wall displays. This would be great if I had a bulletin board! For many media centers, this is the easiest and most colorful way using book jackets and posters. Themes are easy to utilize for deciding what books to advertise, too.

2. Book displays. New books? Set them out for everyone to see! Banned Books Week? Go ahead a pull a few titles from the ALA list of the top 100. (Hey, if you've got the Harry Potter books and any by Mark Twain, you've got books from the list!) Maybe for October you would like to display mysteries, ghost stories, etc? Easy to do! Use the tops of the shelves and just set the books out with an introductory sign inviting students to "check them out"! (Be sure to let students know they CAN check these out...often students will hesitate since it is part of a display.) Downside? You may have to reshelve a lot of these books if you pulled too many!

3. Audio Book Talks. These little MP3 talks can be done by students on their favorite books. Tape them using mini-microphones, cell phones (where allowed), or any digital audio device. Then, upload to the media center's website! These are great for all students, but especially for younger students who can't read a book review yet. The personal recommendation helps a lot!

4. Book of the Day or the Week. If your school has any type of news broadcast, have a book of the day or week segment. This is also great to recommend a series or author. (And it's a great student involvement piece!)

5. Commercials. Whether the video uses still images and a narration or students use an animation program, commercials generate the most interest. (Students can even act out scenes if they would like and time allows! This is a lot of work, but has great results.) A commerical is only 30-60 seconds, so students have to learn to edit their ideas to get the most powerful infomercial on their book. Stay tuned for the library assistants' videos! Currently, the commercials are "works-in-progress"!