Library exhibit brainstorming
Hey, tildes - cqns here, I work in a library and, once in a while, when I have time, I make something called a "display", which is essentially a curated selection of books for the public to check...
Hey, tildes - cqns here,
I work in a library and, once in a while, when I have time, I make something called a "display", which is essentially a curated selection of books for the public to check out, which lasts for approximately a single month. Usually, most people do things very linearly with their displays, a single letter-sized paper that serves as the title label for the topic of the display, and then the physical books in an array on the shelf. I, however, think that most of the displays are particularly boring in the way that they approach the public, hence my need for brainstorming.
What I have in mind is an interactive one-stand exhibit, akin to an art gallery in a museum. The title of the exhibit is "Libri Insoliti", which roughly translates to "strange/unusual books". It is a nine item list that includes the following titles in order:
- The Road - Cormac McCarthy (BOOK, AUDIOBK, EBOOK, DVD, BLU-RAY)
- The Mezzanine - Nicholson Baker (AUDIOBK only)
- Several People Are Typing - Calvin Kasulke (BOOK, AUDIOBK, EBOOK)
- Hopscotch - Julio Cortázar (BOOK - as compilation, EBOOK)
- Ficciones - Jorge Luis Borges (BOOK, BOOK en espanol, AUDIOBK en espanol, EBOOK en espanol)
- The Employees - Olga Ravn (BOOK, EBOOK)
- House of Leaves - Mark Z. Danielewski (BOOK only - Read one page to find out why.)
- "S" - Doug Dorst (BOOK only - some cutouts missing)
- Finnegans Wake - James Joyce (BOOK, EBOOK)
Of each title, I have my written piece on the side that informs the public on what to generally expect when reading the specific titles...and then a QR code that links to a Vocaroo recording of yours truly narrating that which I've already written. Therein lies the rub - in my side of town, it appears as though the general public may not know how to use a QR code, hence my idea being to go a bit above and beyond.
With the QR code method, people may not realize their device's volume level is extremely high and cause distraction. The library is ideally a quiet place for people and I would like for the exhibit's audio to be non-intrusive, leading me to another idea: the purchasing of some type of equipment that allows patrons to listen to the exhibit audio with attached headphones only. There are many things to consider, because the exhibit is in an area which a plug is not easily accessible, so ideally, it may need to work with a battery pack of some kind. I do have, in my possession, a Raspberry Pi5, but, it needs to be plugged in to work. So, does such a device exist? I've searched it up extensively and came across this (https://www.digitalaudiotechnologies.com/product/soundclip-2-2-button-looping-or-pir/), but I don't know whether or not this would even work. Any suggestions?