Book Display Ideas: August

Summer is starting to wind down, even though there's a month left to go. Already I'm seeing back to school items in the stores. And I cringe a little - but I can't lie - it also makes me want to be notebooks and fancy pens. If you're not quite ready to let go of summer, here are a few display ideas for your library. As always, the display pictures are from Pinterest unless otherwise stated. 

 August is:

Romance Awareness Month

Display Idea: Summer Romances or any romances.
I wrote up this blog post about Romance Awareness Month last year from the Hub blog

Book List: Here's one list and another list, plus one from the Hub blog

Display:

South Mississippi Regional Library! Romance Awareness Month.

3rd Week: Friendship Week

Display Idea: BFFs

Book List: Best friends - supportive friends

 Display

Paper Necklace

Summer Olympics 

Book List: Sports books or books about the Olympics

Display: Change up your reading display with book cover rings!

LA-DE-da Library 

Dates:

August 7th: Sister Day

Book List: A older list

Display: Sister quotes or famous sister pictures

Sister Quote 

August 9: Book Lover's Day

Book List: Books within Books (A post I wrote up a few years ago about a few favorites, and here for the Hub blog) Or Favorite books or books your patrons love

Display:

Keep Calm poster

Bookaholic Posters

August 26th: National Dog Day

Book Lists: Happy dog stories

Display: Pictures of dogs

Here's mine dressed up Harry Potter Style

National Eating Disorder Awareness Week

Did you know?

"Everybody Knows Somebody. Eating disorders don’t discriminate. They affect people of all ages, gender and demographics. In the U.S., approximately 20 million women and 10 million men are battling an eating disorder such as anorexia, bulimia or binge eating disorder. Visit NEDAwareness.org to find out how you can make a difference" ~ NEDA

Eating disorders are a serious dangerous matter. As a YA Librarian, I know that reading a book can change someone's life. One book might be able to open a teen's eyes. Writing about eating disorders can be tricky - too heavy handed and it will turn teens off from the book. There are books that have weight has the main topic and books where its a side story. Are they enough? I can think of a handful of good books that talk about weight.  Do they matter? While books can be a great tool to help open a teen's eye, it's not just about books. 

There's so much pressure on young girls from society to be rail thin - movies, models, singers. The whole entertainment world creates a culture of thinking that's detrimental to women. Clothing sizes change, helping to perpetuate this idealism. You can go from a size 8 to 12 in an instant from shopping in one day. Does it depress you? When you shop and see the size zero clothes in abundance and one in a larger size does it make you sad or angry? I'll admit that going from size to size in different stores can be frustrating, but I'm also happy when I can fit into a size 8 in a store. 

Honesty, there are women in Hollywood it hurts to look at. I feel like someone could snap their arm just as easily as snapping a twig. I want to force them to eat something - why is eating looked down upon in Hollywood? I loved how Jennifer Lawrence talks about eating. I love food and I'm always wondering what I'm going to eat next. Why do we hold up standards of beauty which doesn't allow for normal eating? Why do we keep this mentality in our culture? How can we change it?

Can we take back this thought that being skinny makes you perfect, better, or beautiful??? How can women (and men) start changing the way they see themselves - that weight doesn't define a person. Your actions, your personality, yourself defines your person.

PS: I talk about weighty books over at my other blog today.