By Ryan Vanderhei
Rohrbach Library celebrates national library week with an event that has become an
annual tradition here at KU, the READ poster event. During this event, members of the KU community can bring in their favorite book and a librarian will photograph them holding it.
The librarians then upload the picture into an editing system where they superimpose the subject and their favorite book onto a background. The background can range from a frosty paradise to a warm spring day at the park. The subject can choose to take an ordinary photo, or strike a pose and make it interesting.
The origination of this event comes from the American Library Association (ALA) who has been creating READ posters of celebrities holding their favorite books for years in an effort to encourage young kids to read.
Rohrbach Library decided to adopt the idea in 2011 and it is now a national library week tradition. The event fluctuates in participation each year, averaging just 30 posters during its first year, and 100 in the year they had the most.
Danielle Gentile, outreach intern at Rohrbach, was in charge of the event this year. According to Gentile, the only requirement is to be a part of the KU community. Students, faculty, staff, administrators and even family of those mentioned can go to get their poster made.
Kelsey McGuire, 21, is pursuing her visual impairment Pre K-4 degree at KU and decided to have her poster made with her favorite book, “The Best of Me” by Nicholas Sparks. She said that she chose to participate because she loves to read and it was a great way for her to learn more about the library. She said the most exciting part for her was having a cool customized poster to keep.
This event is fun and gives you a chance to connect with the library. In addition, the posters are displayed for everyone to see. Subjects get to keep a copy of the poster and every poster is uploaded to the Rohrbach Library Facebook page.