Swipe Right on Romance
Dating is different today than it was a
generation ago. Thanks to the internet and the proliferation of personal electronic
devices, apps and websites connect two people who might have never crossed
paths in real life. Reading plays a big role in finding Mr./Ms. Right—you can
read profiles to get to know someone before you even say hello. I propose a passive promotion display of romance novels with fake online dating profiles
for characters stylized like Tinder, OKCupid, Hinge, Grindr, Match, Plenty of
Fish, etc. Here’s an example for the romance I just reviewed:
These profiles will be cut out and glued
to a construction paper backing, and then either posted on a bulletin board
space, or peeking out of the books themselves. We can also use these images on
the library’s social media accounts throughout the month of February, including
a link to the book in our catalog. I could include integrated advisory by making profiles for popular movie and television characters, as well, or maybe use photos of them instead of just randomly google image searching like I did for the above examples.
This idea is SO clever and fun! I love the idea of using social media and movie character pics to market it! Great job!
ReplyDeleteThanks Carmen!
DeleteThis is such a cool idea! I think patrons would respond positively to it. The really effective ideas like this are the ones that patrons talk about for a long time afterwards and I think this would be one that people remember. It's always fun to merge classic literature (or just literature in general) and modern trends. Great job!
ReplyDeleteArianna, I was thinking about doing some for classics like Pride and Prejudice or Little Women. I think that'd be so fun and give me a chance to be creative. It could even involve a contest--maybe patrons could try their hand at writing a profile for their favorite (or least favorite!) characters...
DeleteThis is such an amazing idea! Could you maybe combine it with Blind Date with a Book and have your profiles be the only indicator of what the book is? Also (and this might be a bad idea but), I've seen a lot of displays that are "anti-recommendations" where librarians share books they hate and patrons who are feeling brave (or want to start a conversation) will try them out. Maybe this could also play into/create a "swipe left" or "swipe right" debate.
ReplyDeleteThanks Susan! That's a great idea. I had read about Blind Date with a Book and wanted to try to update the concept, but you're right--they could totally be combined!
DeleteI think this sounds like a really good idea! I think patrons would like it, and especially since the bios in your examples are kept short, I think patrons would be more likely to stop and read them as they walked by a display. I also like how the bios themselves include the character's location, which is a way of letting the patron know the setting of the book as well.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Laura! Keeping it short is definitely the way to go.
DeleteLove this idea! I could see it being adapted for teens, but using mock Instagram posts, too.
ReplyDeleteUmmmm, I need to steal this idea. It's fantastic! I love that your two examples were from your romance annotation! Full points, the creativity is awesome and I think patrons would react really well to this!
ReplyDelete