How to Decorate Your Library Year Round

How do you decorate your library or classroom? Hopefully you don’t put up one bulletin board in September and leave it up all year? One time, our principal ranted about scarecrow projects he saw still displayed in January! I change my bulletin boards every month, either to display covers of books that align with a monthly theme, or to announce an upcoming event (Guest Author visit, or STEM Fair). It gives the kids something to look at, while awaiting dismissal in the hall. Sometimes, I also put up trivia questions or fun facts.

Monthly Displays

On my circulation desk, I put out a monthly display.

The fall holidays (Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas) all come at the end of the month, so those displays can stay up. But, the spring holidays (Valentine’s Day, St. Patrick’s Day) occur in the middle of the month. The dilemma: do you just leave them up to the end of the month anyway or do you switch them mid-stream? My sister, a nursery school teacher, once had a parent tell her she should take down her snowmen displays since “winter was over.” (Actually Christmas was over, but winter went until the equinox…so there!) I had a library helper once who was notorious for taking down her home decorations immediately after a holiday. One year, I sighed, “Okay, I guess you can take down the Halloween decorations.” She said, “I will, but we haven’t had Halloween yet.” What! It seemed like we (the kids at least) had been talking about Halloween for months! Please be over!

Tricky Timing of Easter

Easter is a bit of a unique problem. It is sometimes in March and sometimes in April, sometimes in the middle of the month, sometimes at the end. Do you know why? Easter is celebrated on the first Sunday after the Paschal Full Moon, which is the first full moon after the vernal equinox. It is very much tied to Passover, which is also a lunar/solar timed holiday. It might be better to put up the Easter decorations a bit early especially if you are going to have a Spring break that week (yay)!

Just like the week before any holiday, the kids are going to be off the wall (and Easter is yet another holiday tied to candy)! So, you might want to try a couple of holiday activities that still have an academic component. Have fun!