Connecting books and readers via the virtual, visible, spatial, and personal

I have a penchant for schematics.  Below is the one I made while thinking about the types of connections between readers and books -- and ways to enable them.

Note: when choosing ways to connect, three factors must always be considered:  Can it scale? (i.e., will it work for large numbers)  Is it easily accessible?  How will it be maintained?

We recently started an initiative that manages to combine all four delivery methods.

The personal connection is that we invite secondary school teachers to identify the books they want to recommend to their students.  The library then buys 3+ copies of those books for the general library collection.

The virtual connection is a booklist of the titles via our library catalog, e.g., see Dr. Alex's Favorites (where Alex McGregor is the head of History).

The visual connection is a huge skeuomorphic bookshelf poster (thanks to a new big Epson printer and this *.jpg of a blank wooden bookshelf) of the booklist, with a QR code linking to the list. 

To give you an idea of the size, the blank spots on the "shelf" are A4 size (8.5"x11") so teachers can add books to their shelf (read: maintenance) -- by printing out a cover and just blue-tacking it into place.  (Who said cutting and pasting is dead?)  See below example of a poster on a classroom wall.

The spatial connection is a display shelf in the library where multiple copies of each book are displayed - in a very visible way.  (The wall posters are also displayed, but as A4 size in acrylic holders.)

The books are placed face-out with the extra copies stacked behind -- and in the event that all copies are gone, we have a mini-poster (another visual connection) which is a piece of paper inside a plastic sleeve -- which has a QR code and shortened URL leading to the title in the library catalog, so people can check how many copies are available.  I always complain you can't see what books are missing when looking at a shelf -- this way you can permanently display the most important or popular titles.


Will we have room for all the teachers' selections?  We'll find the space....  Click here for a Google Presentation showing all the book wall posters made so far.

Next I want to some teachers to write up little booktalking blurbs and see if we can hang them off the metal holders -- the way independent bookstores do.....