Moving up in the world!

Hello blog (and especially any readers of blog out there)!   Long time, no type!

Well, I have a good excuse, I've been promoted and am now working as a Children's Associate at a different branch of my library system.    It's very exciting and I have been very busy with getting story times and activities ready.   Summer reading program fun has also been eating up a lot of my energy (in a good way).

Fizz, Boom, Read!  Summer Reading 2014

Here are a few picture books I have been thoroughly enjoying this summer:

Crankee Doodle by Tom Angleberger,  Illustrated by CeCe Bell

Most folks know the song "Yankee Doodle" ,  Tom Angleberger takes a "fractured fairytale" approach to the story.  It turns out that the Pony of the song may well have been the reason behind the whole going to town and macaroni thing in the first place.

Crankee Doodle does NOT want to go to town and is highly skeptical of the whole macaroni thing

This little book is fun for kids and adults.   It pairs well with learning the actual song and could well be a good selection for a 4th of July or Flag Day themed storytime.

Secret Pizza Party  by Adam Rubin, Illustrated by Daniel Salmieri

This is another super-fun and funny read to be savored by both children (and adults)!
Racoon's favorite thing in the world is pizza, but every time he tries to acquire some,  people seem to want to chase him away with brooms!

Scenes from a Library - "You Remind Me Of" edition

Middle aged female patron:  "You look like my ex-husband's current wife.  Her name is Janice."
Younger female library staffer (NOT named Janice): " ..."

Scenes from a Library

Bibliothecary will now present a few library vignettes from a compatriot of mine who works in an academic library.   This may become an occasional blog feature.

Scenes From A Library 

* "Do you have any ipads I can check out?  'Cause my computer just got drenched in f*ckin' Cherry Coke." 

* Patron:  Do y'all have any color scanners?

   Library employee: Yes, what do you need to scan?

   Patron:  Well, I got arrested in New York last weekend and ... 

   Library employee:  3rd floor.

* If you have a question for people working on a service desk, it's a good idea to take the straw out of your mouth when asking said question. 

* A guy who looks to be 50-ish,  approaches the desk:
Him: "Hey, I've got this song in my head, let me sing it:   OOOOOO-Double Vision!  Who sings that     song?"
Library employee:  "Foreigner."

Unintentional hilarity

Today a "Puppy Place" book was returned to us damaged.

The patron was very kind and cooperative and paid for it, which was much appreciated.


What cracked me up was that the damage to said book was caused by ... a puppy.  (Named Bashful, no less.)

Witness:

Doggie damaged book

Said puppy must have objected to the book in some way.

Doggie damage close-up # 1

Doggie damage close-up # 2

It's sad that the book was damaged, but the inherent humorousness of the circumstance amused me very much!

Found in a library book - random book mark edition

Book marks are not the most unusual thing to find in library books, but we've gotten some nice ones recently that I thought worth sharing.

From an old summer reading program (2001, according to the copyright date on the bookmark)

Nifty and colorful reptile

Racoon bookmark dated 1987 on the back

People have hung onto these for a while.  They are in our lost and found for a while longer.

Library Holiday Fun

It has been a while since my last post,  holiday busy-ness both at work and at home has superseded library blogging!

We had a busy holiday season at my library this December, people came in en masse to get books to take on vacation with them, audiobooks to take on long car trips,  DVDs to keep the kiddos occupied etc.   It seems libraries cannot have too many holiday themed items in their collections.   Fortunately, publishers are happy to oblige with more and more each year.  

For example, this cute little picture book was published in 2012:

In this book with retro-cartoon illustrations, we learn that even Santa gets the post-holiday blues sometimes.  It reminds us that it is important to keep Christmas spirit throughout the year.  You can read more about Sad Santa at his official website: http://sadsantabook.com

This has also been a busy time for presents from library patrons.   Staff received many cards and delicious edible goodies to share this year.   Witness this photo I took on my last day before break:

The break room was full of delicious foods - the pile of schwag actually got larger about a half hour after I took this photo on the 20th of December

In spite of some of the craziness we deal with, it's nice to know that many patrons really do appreciate us!

On the other hand, the hazard of closing for more than a day or two is that this happens to the book drop:

Books extracted from the book drop on December 26th

And this:

Books and DVDs

And this:

More library materials (DVDs, audiobooks and MORE books) 

Needless to say, a lot of time was spent checking in books and DVDs on December 26th!

We also received an amusing "found in a book" item (this time, I think, left on purpose) :

Note from patron (with name obscured)

In one of our books was a note that read:  "I know I owe $ will come back Thursday."   (They did come in and pay their - tiny - fine!)

It's nice to know we're needed, methinks.

Happy Pig Day

Stealing a book title from Mo Willems since we had a lovely porcine visitor at the library yesterday.

My photo of Barbeque the Miniature Pig

This cute little piggy named Barbeque came for Toddler Story Time yesterday.    Barbeque is a pet piggie and also an ambassador who encourages reading and helps his human raise money for a pig sanctuary located in Afton, VA.

Like most pigs, Barbeque is quite clever and he showed off by doing some tricks for the group.  My favorites were bowling and playing a toy piano.    He then snuggled into a blanket for a piggie themed story:

Piggies by Audrey Wood and Don Wood

There are lots of other pig-themed stories one could have done, for example:

Happy Pig Day!  by Mo Willems

or

The Three Little Pigs (retold and illustrated by Paul Galdone) 

My personal favorite pig story, however, is still Charlotte's Web by E.B. White.   (It's probably a bit over the heads of most toddlers, though.)

One of Garth Williams' lovely illustrations from Charlotte's Web

Barbeque's visit to the library was a highlight of this week!