Library Bulletin Boards...you don't scare me...much. Thanks to Pinterest.

When I embarked on my current career adventure into school libraries 5 years ago, children didn't scare me, public speaking didn't scare me, having to read constantly didn't scare me. Even being called to the principal's office didn't scare me. What scared the bookmarks out of me was the idea of having to create bulletin boards! And my library has a lot of bulletin board space to fill.

I think of myself has fairly creative "in concept", but converting the concept into something tangible is where I doubt myself. When I'm done, I frequently feel like it looks like a 10 year-old's art project. I mean no offense to the talented 10 year-olds among us, but that outcome is never my goal.

I know that there are products you can purchase that make bulletin boards easier. They have thematic kits that are professionally produced and no doubt would give me a more "finished" result. But this doesn't work for me on two counts. Firstly, I have no budget for bulletin board supplies and no personal fortune to fund them. More importantly, I do have good ideas and it is a personal challenge to me to bring them to fruition with my own two hands.

What to do? Enter Pinterest and the Internet. There are as many ways to search for inspiration as there are ways to ask Google a question. Do you have a theme in mind? Book title? Catchphrase? Search that way. If you're totally clueless, just search for bulletin board ideas and you'll be overwhelmed with ideas. Warning: set a timer. It is easy to get sucked into the Pinterest vortex and emerge from the other side realizing that hours have passed.

Now that I have a physical picture of what I'd only been able to see in my brain, I can see what I will need to do. Frequently, I only need to peruse the pictures, but if you need to have more detailed instructions they are available as well.

All of this doesn't mean that my boards don't look like a 10 year-old did them, but I hope that with better visualization and practice over time, they'll all improve. Here are a few that I'm particularly proud of...

Crinkled butcher paper tree, leaves are die-cut from old discarded book pages.

This board is still under construction. It needs a better defined road. The theme is cyber-safety.

The warning signs are tips that I got from McGruff the Crime Dog.

Sentence strips allow students and teachers to contribute why they think Reading Rocks.