One of the tasks that I find most interesting and challenging in library work is to plan and put together displays to publicise the library, its collection and/or its services. I am very conscious of the need to attract people, to interest them and to persuade them to think about the display. Aesthetics is very important when I mount a display but so is adding meaning to the display.
UTS Display of Books during the 2010 Election
Usually library displays include collections of carefully chosen books. A pile of books is not usually, of itself, very effective as part of a display - it needs to have some expressed purpose (as in a new book display) and to be put in context so it speaks to an observer (as for instance a selection of books on a particular subject.)
If you are lucky, the person looking at the pile may be interested in the authors or titles of the books, or maybe the design of the books and their covers will attract interest. However, it is unusual for a passer-by to give a pile of books more than a glance. Quite likely the person may conclude that it is just a random pile of books and move on. Unless the relevance of the pile is made clear to the viewer, it will look like a pile of books or maybe a display which is being prepared.
The image above which I found on Flickr is a good example of the display of collection of books - it draws the viewer in and is thought provoking. The photograph is of a book display put on during the 2010 federal election by the University of Technology Sydney. I enjoy the fact that the photograph both makes me laugh and makes me think. I like it!
