Easley Library Bookworms discussion

Visitors to the library may or may not have ever noticed the changing arrays of colorful books displayed, usually on little metal or plastic stands, atop the shelves for oversized books on both sides of our front doors. But it occurred to me that even folks who have noticed them wouldn't necessarily have a clue as to why they're there, unless we provide some explanation!

These are just books to which we're trying to call attention, as samples of the larger collection of books that we have. They can very definitely be checked out (and, indeed, we hope you will sample some of them!). We try to change them out every month, and the books we pick tend to follow a theme for that month. For instance, in January, our theme was the librarians' choice of fiction recommendations --books that Paula or I had read and really liked, and hoped to share with some of you. (We plan to repeat that theme sometime.)

Since February is Black History Month, our theme for this month is, not surprisingly, African-American history. This is a rich and varied history, with a lot of content --some of it harrowing, some of it inspiring, all of it meaningful, not just for black readers, but for those of every ethnicity. Easley Library has a wide range of resources in this area (not all of them "history" books); we've picked a small scattering of them to display, which aren't the kind of books that you need to be taking a class in order to enjoy reading one of them, and possibly enjoy learning something new to you!

Going forward, I'll try to post here each month and share something about each new display. (At least, I should be able to tell you what the unifying theme is each month, in case it isn't obvious. :-)

Werner wrote: "Going forward, I'll try to post here each month and share something about each new display. (At least, I should be able to tell you what the unifying theme is each month, in case it isn't obvious. :-) "

Well, I got sidetracked and failed to follow through with that promise in the rest of 2023. I'll try to do better in 2024!

Werner wrote (in 2023): "... in January, our theme was the librarians' choice of fiction recommendations --books that Paula or I had read and really liked, and hoped to share with some of you. (We plan to repeat that theme sometime.)

Since February is Black History Month, our theme for this month is, not surprisingly, African-American history.

We're doing the same thing in January and February of this year; except that this month, since Martin Luther King Day falls in January, we're displaying some of our books by or about him on the side closer to the circulation desk. (Books on black history more generally will be displayed next month.) The current "librarian's choice" books are being displayed on the side closer to the whiteboard; each librarian has selected two to recommend. We hope you'll check some of these out!

March is Women's History Month; so this month's display highlights some of our many books that focus on the distaff side of history through the ages, and through the lens of women with a wide variety of ethnicities and experiences. Why not take this opportunity to explore some of these fascinating stories?

Since BU normally hosts its Appalachian Festival in April (though I don't believe it will take place this year), this month's display features books about, or set in, Appalachia. (And that's only a sample of many more Appalachian themed books that we have!)

This month's display simply showcases some of the many works of entertaining, enjoyable fiction we have here at Easley Library, that's not especially "literary" or "educational," but that can bring you a lot of pleasure in whiling away the hot and lazy summer days. Those displayed are mostly general fiction, but a sampling of our other genres are represented as well. We may stick with this theme all summer --though in that case, we'll change out particular books as (hopefully) some of them are checked out!

Our display for this month is a sampler of our many short story collections, reflecting the fact that May is Short Story Month. That designation, inspired by April's status as National Poetry Month, was created in May 2007 by book blogger (and avid fan of short fiction) Dan Wickett at his Emerging Writers Network website, and the idea spread through the online reading community like wildfire. Since I don't surf the web much, I didn't learn about it until yesterday, just in time to inspire this month's display!