In my Library Administration class from my undergraduate degree I remember being told to never go to your principal (or supervisor) with a problem unless you also had a solution.  Go with problem only and you are a complainer.  Go with a potential solution and you are a collaborator.

I have put this wise advice into practice through the years.  When I first came to my current workplace there was no display space available for the library.  But just across the hall by the office there were two display cases CROWDED with ancient trophies.  I coveted this space, but anticipated my Principal’s problem if he granted it to me – what to do with all the trophies.  I was ready.  I suggested that the trophies move to the tops of my 68″ non-fiction shelves.  Other than the custodians’ annual complaint that they have to dust them, this was a great solution and has been a great outreach for the library.

In the photos above you can view the latest display:  Eggcellent Spring Reading.  I often use wrapping paper for a background since it is fairly inexpensive, colorful, and available in many themes.  And I almost always have something in addition to the books, such as these eggs and chickens.  It catches everyone’s eye that way!

I do not always use the case for book displays.  For example, during February of this year I invited teachers to bring a wedding photo of themselves.  It was a VERY popular display.  (Actually, we did this about 15 years ago and staff requested a repeat!)  In late April/May we plan to have faculty bring old prom or homecoming pictures of themselves.  (Most of the mature faculty members no longer can locate these photos, but this gives the unmarrieds and the younger staff a chance to participate.  They still know where those photos are and probably still have the dried flowers… which I’ll use in the display if they’ll bring them!)

I leave displays up at least a month, sometimes for two.  This display will stay up through spring break.  It has elements of Easter in it, but it isn’t geared to a holiday so it has more staying power!  The cases lock so I sometimes borrow collections from individuals in the community.  The Lego collection was VERY popular.  Plus I make it known to the teachers that both cases can be used for their class projects, so I do not always have to keep it filled.

I believe Sue Stroyan was the instructor of that Library Administration class.  I’m not sure if the advice was from her or from the textbook, but I have never forgotten it.  And it has remained EGG-cellent advice!

Note from a perfectionist:  I’m not happy with legibility in the headline, so I intend to add white letters, leaving the green as shadow.  I also need to add a couple of egg cartons and some Pysanky Eggs (Ukranian Easter Eggs) which I have somewhere at home.  Also worth noting, for the last 22 years I have good-naturedly ignored the custodian’s complaints about dusting the trophies … I work hard so the custodians know I respect the job they do and I usually bake them something at least once a year in trophy penance.  You see, my mother, a career educator, always told me:  “The most important people to develop positive relationships with in a school building are the custodians and the secretaries.”  …also EGG-cellent advice!