Library displays are often planned out laboriously, but other times they happen organically (pun intended), as the case with the Pop Up Herb Truck at Northern Virginia Community College, Annandale Campus.  Librarian Paula DeRoy–you may remember her from this post–explains:

You know how it is with creativity… and gardeners…and librarians.   It all started when one of the staff offered to bring in some lavender from his garden.  We got to talking about the herbs we have flourishing right now.  So we decided to bring in herbs and why not pull some books from the collection?

The herb display is kind of symbolic of our “lifelong learning” philosophy.  We aren’t just here to teach “to the class,” we are here to promote lifelong learning and information literacy.  With herbs, we could look at the senses, aromatherapy, art, cooking, historic and medicinal uses, etc. etc.  We just keep trying to connect with our students and make them feel comfortable using the library and our services.

What are you guys doing out there with your book trucks when they aren’t full of books to shelve?

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