Gather 'round the table

An interesting discussion took shape on the AcademicPR listserv recently about designing effective displays at fair tables. One school's ideas in particular jumped out at me as especially creative. Erica Schattle, Coordinator for Outreach and Reference Librarian at Emerson College Library (Boston), shared what the Orientation Planning Committee came up with:

Using the Lights, Camera, Action @ yourlibrary theme, Emerson librarians raffled off movie cutouts to students who set up their library accounts. In addition, they made a 6ft. long wordsearch using library and database terms (you can use the word search generator they used here). According to Erica, lots of students made an effort to find a word and chat with a librarian. Cool!

Thanks to Erica for sharing this idea!

For more tips and techniques about crafting fair displays, take a look at Trade Show Displays: What Makes Them Work (free registration required). Overall, simple is best, and don't let the table do all the work - get out there and talk with people!