What a lot of GREAT ideas! I've summarized the comments I received for others who are interested, as well as attachments that were shared. Thanks to EVERYONE who responded. Happy Hump Day! Sylvia Merz 1. Books are given away - we use a combination of donated books and books we have weeded from our collection. Hardback or trade paperback, in good condition. 2. Books are wrapped in whatever extra wrapping paper staff had available (Christmas, birthday, newspaper cartoons, etc) 3. Displays are set-up in adult and teen areas (both have been popular). 4. Patron picks up wrapped book, takes home, reads & perhaps discovers new author; some patrons bring back the books and we either re-use in program or give to friends' group for book sale. I have attached a copy of the Blind Date with a Book for Teens flyer we use in the display. You just need to modify slightly for adults. Annett - goikea@libcoop.net --------------------------------- We did Blind date and the people who participated enjoyed it. Briefly--we had each of the librarians pull some of their favorite books so we could hit multiple genres and find books we recommended. We purchased "Hi My Name Is" type badge stickers. We wrapped the books in plain kraft paper, then put on the sticker. The librarian recommending it wrote a little teaser on it so that people would know what kind of book they were taking--something like "Hello. I am a quick-paced tale of lost treasure, set in the mysterious mountains of Peru" or "Hello. If you love warm stories of life among the Amish, I am sure to be your next date!" etc. (I made those up)-you get the idea. We didn't want people who only liked Christian Fiction to get a scandinavian crime novel. So it seemed fair to at least lead them to their general genre or temperament. We put the out on display with a sign explaining that they could/would/should check them out as is (since we have rfid, there is no need to open them to checkout) and take them home before unwrapping them. I think it was important to have some explanation so people "got" that it was about them trying something new and unexpected. If you don't have rfid, you'll have to think of another way to circulate them, such as just cutting out a hole where the barcode is so they can be surprised AFTER they check them out! Kelli kperkins@herrickdl.org --------------------------------- We wrapped the books in brown paper. We wrote some adjectives or characteristics or "personality traits" on the outside to entice a reader's interest. I've seen some libraries cut out the brown wrapper to show the barcode if they place the barcode on the outside of the book. Our barcodes happen to be on the inside so we wrote the barcode on the outside of the book. We also kept a list at the circulation desk so we could cross of which ones were checked out for easy, fast reference and to help facilitate adding more to the display. Many patrons liked the idea and some liked to test themselves and guess the title of the book. All in all the staff had fun and so did the Tracie Alger talger@bigrapids.lib.mi.us ------------------------------ In general, we are wrapping the book, putting the barcode on the outside of the package, and making up a summary that includes genres, age interests if applicable, and subject. If it is a mystery, for example, we will also put a mystery sticker on the outside of the package. Just enough info, so the person has a general idea what they are getting, so they don't end up with a "trashy romance" when they only read "Christian" fiction, for example. That's my understanding of it, but I'm not the one setting up the display. Let me know your specific questions. Good luck. Jennifer Walters aitkinlibrary@sbcglobal.net ------------------------------ For the past 2 years, I have done something similar for Christmas. It is "Unwrap a good book" I have attached a picture so you can see what the display looks like. The books are all wrapped and on the tag, I put the book barcode, so that it can be checked out without being unwrapped, and a description of the book, so patrons can see if it is something they are interested in. LeAnn Beckwith lbeckwith@hillsdale-library.org ----------------------------- At the Norton Shores Branch Library back in August 2013 we adapted the Blind Date book promotion to work with kids and called it Brown Bag Reading. Our goal was to keep kids reading after summer reading had ended. I'm attaching files that have the staff instructions on how we ran the program, along with a couple of the draft mock-ups for our promotional materials. It was a big success for us, and we are definitely doing it again. It's perfect for February! My most important suggestion is be sure to prep (i.e. wrap up and label)enough books--we really underestimated interest and were constantly prepping more books into bags throughout the whole month. And if you have a better way (i.e. automated via your ILS) to track how many books are circulated that would help, too. Allison Purgiel apurgiel@madl.org --------------------------------------- I picked out an assortment of books from each genre that might have flown under the radar or surprised me or were highly recommended by others. I also asked staff if they had any favorite books they thought most people hadn't read. Then I wrapped them in paper with the barcode cut out. I wrote a number on the back of the book that corresponded to a list of titles that we kept behind the circulation counter. It would be easy enough to just scan the barcode if staff needed to know what the book was, but I'm going to make a list again because it came in handy when we were searching for a book that was "in" but not on the shelf. My favorite part of this whole display was creating personal ads for the books. I don't have access to any of them from home, but they went along the lines of "Classic femme fatale detective novel seeks serious reader who enjoys sharp plot twists." It was a lot of fun! Our patrons loved it, and we had many people come back for a second or third date. I'e also attached a fun program for teens for Valentine's Day - Anti-Valentine's Day Party. It's something I got from another library. It has detailed materials lists, timelines, instructions for games, everything. I might try to do it this year... Michelle Schubert erlibprograms@gmail.com ------------------------------------------- We did the "Blind Date with a Book - Art & Mystery jpg attached" display last year and it was quite popular. We deliberately used books that don't circulate much, but got good reviews. I wrote a blurb from an author review on the cover on the wrapping, to give patrons an enticing teaser. Our library uses RFID, so checking out wasn't a problem. Otherwise, you could write the barcode on the back of the wrapping. Some libraries have used brown paper. I used newspaper classifieds (would have loved to use the "Personal Ads" if I could have found them. I also wrapped them in a bit of colored construction paper to make them look more festive. A few people reported back that it was quite a treat to get a literal surprise at the library. Lindsey Harnish lharnish@ferndalepubliclibrary.org ----------------------------------- We used a bunch of left over books from our book sale ( in very nice shape) and wrapped them in plain brown kraft paper and then we added a tag that said Have a Blind Date with Me-- on some we did put romance, science fiction, mystery, etc but you really don't have to do that. We put a small fruit jar by the display and asked for donations. We have made over $50.00 on it so far. We are a very small library and we really did not have a good display area- we used one of the library tables- If you had a bigger area you could do more with it. Hope this helps. Richard Klender klenders@centurytel.net --------------------------- Canton Public Library did this program a year ago. You can see our blog posting <http://www.cantonpl.org/blog/post/blind-date-book> . We are not repeating it this year because we're undergoing some reconstruction starting February 2nd. Please feel free to respond with your questions. Ellen Pare paree@cantonpl.org ------------------------------- I am trying a version of Blind Date with a Book at my library, but it is a little different from the way most libraries that I've seen do it. We're using the program to deplete some of our used bookstore overstock (and do something fun at the library, of course). I've taken some of the nicer donations of less popular authors. Wrapped them with tags that say things like "Cozy Mystery", etc. On the reverse side of the tag is a place for a person's library card #, name, and a brief review. If they return a review they are entered in a drawing for an actual date. (Our Friends group donated gift cards to a local restaurant and movie theater). There's been quite a bit of interest so far (I put the books out last Monday. Elizabeth Campion campiee4@gmail.com ------------------------------ We have done the Blind Date display and do another one for Banned Book Week where we wrap up books. For the Blind Date one we simply wrap up the book and write the barcode on it for check out purposes. On the Banned Book one we put a brief description of the reason for the banning and write the barcode on it. In or computer we set the books in a display status this way if someone is looking for it we know where to look. Hope this info helps! Laura Rodriguez-Irwin gntlri@llcoop.org ---------------------------------- Whew - hope this helps folks; it certainly did me. Sylvia
