{"id":62,"date":"2026-10-04T05:39:24","date_gmt":"2026-10-04T05:39:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/287.hyperlib.sjsu.edu\/adalie\/?p=62"},"modified":"2026-10-04T05:39:24","modified_gmt":"2026-10-04T05:39:24","slug":"reflection-on-hyperlinked-environments-library-signage","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/287.hyperlib.sjsu.edu\/adalie\/2026\/10\/04\/reflection-on-hyperlinked-environments-library-signage\/","title":{"rendered":"Reflection on Hyperlinked Environments: Library Signage"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">In <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/quod.lib.umich.edu\/w\/weave\/12535642.0001.501?view=text;rgn=main\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Signage by Design<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">, Edward Luca and Bhuva Narayan examine the power of signage within libraries to make or break a library user\u2019s experience. They write specifically about the importance of signage in mitigating library anxiety. Good signage allows patrons to navigate the library and feel more comfortable in the space.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2>Library End Cap Signage<\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">The community college library I work at recently underwent extensive renovations. As part of the renovation, I was tasked with creating new end cap signs for the library shelves. Before sitting down to design the signs, I hadn\u2019t really considered how many decisions had to be made concerning the signs. As I began to look up <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">signage from other libraries<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">, I realized that there were so many factors to consider.<\/span><\/p>\n<pre><span style=\"font-size: 10pt\">Check out this <a href=\"https:\/\/pin.it\/R5w8Xw3mx\">Pinterest Board with different examples of end cap signage<\/a><\/span><\/pre>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><strong>Color<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">White background with black text?<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Black background with white text?<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Multicolored?<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><strong>Font<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Do you choose a serif or sans serif font?<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Do you use one font or multiple?<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">How big do you make the font?<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Should all the text be the same size or should you have a larger font size for the call number ranges<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><strong>Alignment and Arrows<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Is it enough to align the call number and subject headings to the correct side of the endcap or do you also need to have arrows pointing to the aisle for greater emphasis?<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"><strong>Call Numbers<\/strong> (we use the Library of Congress Classification System)<\/span>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Do you include call numbers or just subject headings?<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">If you include call numbers, how specific do you make the range?<\/span>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Just the general class?<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">All the way to the Cutter Number?<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><strong>Subject Headings<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Should you include subjects on the signage or does it make it too cluttered?<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">If you do include subject headings, how many do you put on the signs?<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<pre><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-70 size-large\" src=\"http:\/\/287.hyperlib.sjsu.edu\/adalie\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/607\/2026\/10\/image0-1024x455.png\" alt=\"white background with black text. A line in the middle of the image divides two sides. The left side has the following words in a smaller print: Marriage, Feminism, and Communities. In larger font at the bottom it says HN 90 - HV 2530. On the right side of the image in smaller font are the words Musician Biographies, Popular Music, Art History, and Artist Biographies. In larger font at the bottom it says ML 418 - NF 74.\" width=\"640\" height=\"284\" srcset=\"https:\/\/287.hyperlib.sjsu.edu\/adalie\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/607\/2026\/10\/image0-1024x455.png 1024w, https:\/\/287.hyperlib.sjsu.edu\/adalie\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/607\/2026\/10\/image0-300x133.png 300w, https:\/\/287.hyperlib.sjsu.edu\/adalie\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/607\/2026\/10\/image0-768x341.png 768w, https:\/\/287.hyperlib.sjsu.edu\/adalie\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/607\/2026\/10\/image0.png 1280w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/pre>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">The goal of all of these decisions was to create helpful signage. The signage had to be easily legible, accessible, and provide enough information for most students to feel comfortable navigating the shelves without assistance. It also had to be flexible enough to allow for minor shifting of books. I landed on a white background with a black, sans serif font. We use this same font in most other signage around the space.<\/span><\/p>\n<table class=\"alignleft\" style=\"width: 100%;border-collapse: collapse\">\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td style=\"width: 100%;border-style: none;border-color: #000000;background-color: #faf5e8\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Helpful Tip: I highly recommend choosing a few fonts to use in signage that can help \u201cbrand\u201d your library. We have three primary fonts we use: two sans serif fonts (one bolder and more compact than the other) and one font that is a little more youthful and fun. We can always use a font outside of our brand guide if it fits an occasion better, but having consistent fonts on signage helps cut down on visual clutter.<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">The call number ranges include the general class and the first set of numbers defining the subject. The librarians determined the most popular subject headings within the range to include on the signage. I don\u2019t think there is such a thing as perfect signage, but intentionally designing signage for legibility, accessibility, and navigability can help make your space more welcoming and useful for patrons.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In Signage by Design, Edward Luca and Bhuva Narayan examine the power of signage within libraries to make or break a library user\u2019s experience. They write specifically about the importance of signage in mitigating library anxiety. Good signage allows patrons &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/287.hyperlib.sjsu.edu\/adalie\/2026\/10\/04\/reflection-on-hyperlinked-environments-library-signage\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":879,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-62","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-reflection-blogging"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/287.hyperlib.sjsu.edu\/adalie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/62","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/287.hyperlib.sjsu.edu\/adalie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/287.hyperlib.sjsu.edu\/adalie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/287.hyperlib.sjsu.edu\/adalie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/879"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/287.hyperlib.sjsu.edu\/adalie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=62"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/287.hyperlib.sjsu.edu\/adalie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/62\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":71,"href":"https:\/\/287.hyperlib.sjsu.edu\/adalie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/62\/revisions\/71"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/287.hyperlib.sjsu.edu\/adalie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=62"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/287.hyperlib.sjsu.edu\/adalie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=62"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/287.hyperlib.sjsu.edu\/adalie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=62"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}