Almost everyone who enters my library talks about how pretty it is. When I first walked in this space to begin my internship, my jaw dropped. I went home and told my mother that I’d worked in the prettiest school library I’d ever seen that day. Little did I know, it would be my workplace in the very near future.
Now that I’ve gotten over the surface aesthetic of my library, I see so many needs. The biggest is signage. My library has some shoddy signage, if I do say so myself. It’s not that there’s no money in the budget for it. It’s simply that I don’t know what signage to buy that will be functional but also attractive. Attractiveness is very important to me. Remember, “posh” library life all the way. 
The previous media specialist had some hand drawn dewey signs placed throughout the nonfiction section. Students in our art class created these some years ago, and I’m sure they were of pride at the time.
Fast forward to now, it’s not working for me. Signage that is too permanent, i.e. hanging from the ceiling and requiring a work order and maintenance guys on very tall ladders, is not the way. However, the library needs to be outfitted with signage in a bold and effective way.
Aside from teaching literature, graphic design is my all time favorite thing to do. By the time school begins, I will have replaced the signs you see here with new ones that match my library branding. Until then, please click the link below to download the first set of Dewey Decimal System charts for free. These are 11×17 and totally editable. This is the template I’ll be using to create my own.
I hope these will be a great beginning point for anyone who wants to give their library a fresh look with minimal work. You have to look at your space day in and day out. It’s important that it’s functional and makes you smile, right? Right!
