Last week we shared the July NoveList Idea Calendar full of tips, search suggestions, a free printable, and more to help you save time and connect readers to their next great read. NoveList has so many great and varied resources that it was hard to pick and choose what to include on the calendar and what had to be left off. And it’s important to note that the tips and resources highlighted here aren’t limited to just this month but should be celebrated year-round!
With that in mind, let's take a closer look at ways you can use NoveList products for booklists, display ideas, storytime help, promotional content, and more to tie into an outer space theme.
July has both World UFO Day and National Moon Day, but World Space Week is in October, the first Friday in May is National Space Day, and astronomical events happen throughout the year, so it’s always a good time to stop, look up, and appreciate the cosmos.
NoveList Plus
NoveList Plus has tons of titles you’re sure to gravitate to!
Let’s start with all the science fiction themes you could ever want. NoveList Plus themes cover the complete space journey from generation ships of spacefarers traveling across lifetimes (road-trip anyone?) to lost in space stories of characters lost or stranded (oh no, did one of those ships take a wrong turn?) to space colonization where humans establish settlements off-world (we made it!). That’s in addition to the themes alien invasion, first contact, and boldly go, already mentioned on the July Idea Calendar.
One of my favorite things about science fiction is all the subgenres and NoveList Plus makes it easy to both browse or search by genre. From space operas to Afrofuturism to Star Wars fiction, you can search NoveList Plus for exactly the genre you or your patrons are interested in. Browse by genre from the top menu bar or find more science fiction genres listed in The Secret Language of Books. Delve even further into these genres by searching for things like witty space operas (GN space opera AND AP witty), or fast-paced Afrofuturism (GN Afrofuturism AND AP fast-paced).
Want to know more? Explore NoveList Plus’s genre guides to become a genre expert and stay in the know about titles and trends. Here are just a few of the genre guides available:
- Afrofuturism and Afrofantasy for Adults
- Space Opera for Adults
- Science Fiction (there are science fiction guides for adults, teens, and older kids)
Need a list fast? Recommended Reads lists are curated by NoveList librarians and include highly rated, well-reviewed titles. These are ready-made and easy to print and share with patrons. Check out these lists star-ring outer space-related titles:
- Among the Stars
- LGBTQIA Science Fiction
- Outer Space Reads
- Aliens and Outer Space
- Aliens
To find them, search the name of the Recommended Reads list and then click on the Lists & Articles tab. Or browse the Recommended Reads lists on the left of the NoveList Plus home screen.
LibraryAware
You’ve found the books or planned the program. Now search LibraryAware for professionally designed materials to get the word out to your patrons.
With templates created specifically for libraries, LibraryAware makes it easy to find exactly what you need! Start with a search for space and narrow down from there.
Limit by the Events & Programs collections on the left to find templates to promote your storytimes and more. LibraryAware has several event templates that feature the moon or astronauts including an outer space storytime kit that includes a coordinating widget, eblast, and event flyers of various sizes.
Limit to the Collection Promotion collection instead to find widgets and flyers for outer space or alien-themed book display signs as well as templates to promote science fiction book clubs.
And that’s not all! Search science fiction for book flyers and bookmarks to promote all kinds of sci-fi including Own Voices Science Fiction and New and Forthcoming Science Fiction.
And of course, all these templates can be customized to fit your needs! So, whether you’re hosting a Library Space Camp, blasting off with storytimes, or lending telescopes through your Library of Things, you can change as much or as little on any of the templates as you need or want to.
Core Collections
If you need to refresh or purchase more books to round out your collection, Core Collections can help.
Core Collections uses NoveList vocabulary to capture genres and subjects, making it easy to search for titles related to outer space. All of those subgenres I was mooning about earlier? Search for them in Core Collections using the field code SU for Subject to help make your science fiction collection a star!
For nonfiction titles, you can search for everything from planets to black holes to astrophysics. Or start with an advanced search where you can search by Dewey range. For example, search by Dewey range 520-529 to find books on astronomy. The Core Collections levels of recommendations can ensure that you have the essential and recommended titles, while also allowing you to quickly check supplemental titles.
From the search results page, you can sort or limit by relevance to find books we recommend at all levels for all ages. If you’ve connected Core Collections to your library’s catalog, you can easily see which titles you already own right in the database and add any that you’re missing to a folder — a quick way to create a list of things to order.
Linked Library Service
Linked Library Service gets your data into the Google knowledge panel and other web services that help attract new users to your library. But did you know you can use your linked data to create book widgets to embed on your website, within blog posts, or on partner websites?
Like any of the Recommended Reads lists highlighted above? Because Linked Library Service is enriched with NoveList metadata creating a responsive book widget based on those lists is as easy as click, click, embed. These book widgets can be placed on your library’s website or shared with community partners to increase your collection’s visibility.
I hope these suggestions have given you some astronomically good ideas to launch your own stellar promotions! Not into outer space? No pressure! NoveList Plus is sure to have themes, genres, and Recommended Reads lists on the subjects you and your patrons are interested in.
Lauren Campbell is a NoveList Consultant. She is currently reading Cress Watercress by Gregory Maguire, illustrated by David Litchfield.
