Visiting the library last week, you may have seen Shark Week decorations all around – from our front entrance, to the I-Create Makerspace, to the Learning Commons. This year, our decorations led the Bell Library to win third place in the TAMU-CC decoration competition!
While we were competing campuswide, we also held an internal, library-building-only decoration contest to get everyone in on the sharky fun. Our twist? We challenged our departments to use reused and recycled materials to decorate their spaces!
The contest followed the rules and timeline of the campus competition so that everyone’s decorations could be included in our overall entry. Each department was scored on quality, creativity, design, and attention to theme by our Recognition & Team Building Committee and Shark Week team. Once the scores were added up, the winners were determined.
Here are our department winners along with the stories behind their trash-to-treasure decorations!
Librarians Hallway (1st Place, First Floor)
“As librarians, we were thrilled to dive into the Shark Week spirit by transforming our hallway into an underwater adventure! We used blue plastic tablecloths to simulate the ocean’s surface, paper streamers to mimic gentle ocean waves, and printed shark silhouettes that swam through the scene. We added a decorative net capturing plastic shark and fish figures to bring the display to life. We loved being part of this celebration!”
– Aída Almanza-Ferro, Student Success Librarian
“Hanging the crab quilt in the Faculty and Staff Exhibition reminded me how much I enjoy collage work (fabric and paper). When the recycled theme was announced, I was immediately drawn to the weeded map collections for materials. Tearing paper is so satisfying!”
– Jennifer Anderson, Community Engagement Librarian
Special Collections & Archives (Tied for 1st, Second Floor)
“Shark Week is always so much fun. We decided to use up some of the left-over craft supplies from making Christmas stockings. Since most of those items are shiny and sparkling, we thought about making a disco for our shark to dance in.
To create the perfect disco atmosphere, we gathered other materials that could be used to make the party ambience. We used cardboard gathered from the shipping materials for our archival supplies to create the six-foot-long whale shark. Added some of the rhinestones from the craft supplies to make him sparkle for the disco. Coffee filters, a tube from our mylar used in map encapsulation, and pieces of an old pompom make up our bloom of jellyfish. Our door was created from leftover birthday party supplies, tissue paper, crepe paper, and cupcake wrappers. To tie it all together we used some left-over display items to make the sparkly labels for the disco shark and the name of our party place, ‘The Funky Fin’. The finishing touch was a disco ball that was kept in one of our office’s to ensure the sparkles dance down.”
– Duckie Kowalski, Archivist & Outreach Coordinator
Office of the Dean of University Libraries (Tied for 1st, Second Floor)
“This year is the 50th anniversary of Jaws and we wanted to do something to celebrate that! Our door’s tall, vertical layout turned out to be the perfect canvas to recreate the poster design. Playing with pop culture references is a fun way to explore what makes a design so memorable. Plus, it gave us the chance to imagine some silly crossovers: like, what if the shark worked in an office? And what if Izzy took the place of the swimmer on the poster?
The materials we used are painted cardboard from delivery boxes; toilet paper rolls; water bottles; an old desk calendar; paper from past library signage; crepe paper; felt; and even a button from around the house to top off our cardboard boat’s lifesaver. Also, a confession – I hadn’t actually seen Jaws when we started this project and only knew things from pop culture! But as I researched iconic elements we could add like the barrels and the boat, I got curious. After decorating, I finally watched Jaws and Jaws 2, and now I get why it’s a classic!”
– Emma Drumright, Communications Specialist I
Here are more photos from all across the Bell Library!
Until next year! 🦈
