A Blind date with a Book programs are really popular right now. There's even a hashtag on Instagram #blinddatewithabook for it. This is definitely a bandwagon you want to jump on!
Far too often we judge books by their covers. I mean we should. The cover is important. It should give you a hint of what's inside those covers. Will it be love, intrigue and mystery, or an epic battle? The cover is so important to the feel and tone we go into when we start reading. BUT! Sometimes we pass on a book because of what the cover looks like. Maybe we would love the book that we might never give a chance to because of what the cover looks like.
A fun activity like this can get your teen readers to look outside the box for new material they might love! Of course you run the risk of having someone choose a book they might not like but hopefully with these few tips and tricks this program will get rave reviews!
A fun activity like this can get your teen readers to look outside the box for new material they might love! Of course you run the risk of having someone choose a book they might not like but hopefully with these few tips and tricks this program will get rave reviews!
Setting up your display
This program is a great tie in to Valentine's Day but could be used at anytime of the year. Promote a winter's night in with a book or a day at the beach with a book date. The possibilities are endless!
Use your carts or a section of shelving reserved for the selection of Blind Date Books. Select books from a variety of genres or maybe even mix in some non-fiction selections. You may not want to use books on a hold list, so while you may be tempted to choose new and popular books, use this as a way to get lower circulated books into teen's hands.
You can use a variety of materials to wrap your books in. Kraft paper, wrapping paper, newspaper will all work. Just make sure to cut a hole out for your barcodes if your library doesn't have tags that can be scanned through paper.
Next, use a sharpie to give some clues about what book is inside. You could draw a sketch, write a few words that relate to the book or adjectives to describe it, write the genre, or a quote from the book. Anything to get a teen's attention.
Challenges
This program definitely takes some time and planning! From choosing a wide variety of titles, wrapping all the books and drawing/writing, this will not be a quick event. Take advantage of any volunteers you may have. Know someone who loves to draw? They may be willing to help with that task. Use the internet! There are a wide variety of downloads you can use to print instead of hand drawing everything. There are also lists of books you may wish to choose from.
Evaluating your Program
Once complete send out an evaluation form getting feedback on the program. Setup a personal hashtag for Twitter and IG, so teen's can put pictures up on their accounts talking about what they liked/didn't like about the program. Once you've done this a couple times it'll be smooth sailing!
Good Luck and Happy Reading!
~Carol
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