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!

Books for all seasons

Library books go on adventures.    They come back sandy from the beach.  Depending on the season, they come back super hot or super cold from time spent in people's cars.   Sometimes they come back a bit rainy or snowy.

Sometimes we even learn that they are extremely well-traveled - books go to Paris or the Bahamas and various other exotic locales.  (Patrons sometimes share this info with us.    Personally, if it was me, I wouldn't be particularly comfortable bringing a book that was not my own out of the country.)  I've even had a patron pay for a book because it was lost over the side of a cruise ship while at sea.  (Hey, at least they were honest about it!)

Things happen, I totally understand this.  

However,  books that are returned to the library in a state of extreme dampness on a cloudless, sunny day are ... cause for concern.  They make me want to wash my hands, a LOT, when I encounter them.  

Found in a library book

Libraries are public places.  People have a tendency to leave things behind.

They also leave things in books they've returned to the library, like this rather charming artwork left in a children's book about baseball:

Obviously, we try our best to return things found at the library to their rightful owners - our lost & found bin runneth over - but sometimes it's not possible.

I wonder if the child who drew this missed it - it is obvious they are a sports fan.   I know finding this little piece of artwork brightened my day, though.

This will likely be the first in a series of "Found in a library book" posts.

Bibliothecary - Introductions

bibliothecary (n.) 

"librarian," 1610s, from Latin bibliothecarius, from bibliotheca (see bibliothek). An earlier form in English was bibliothecar(1580s).  (from the Online Etymology Dictionary)

Hello there and welcome to my new blog.

I am a  library professional working in a library in the Richmond (Virginia) area.  

I have a background in history, music, libraries and museums and am a voracious reader.

This blog will be a chronicle of my adventures working in a local public library and will also (hopefully) include the occasional book/movie review as well as interesting items found at the library, program ideas and anything else that might come up relating to my life at the library.

"Bibliothecary" is a wonderful obsolete word that I recently discovered and I am really excited to use it as the title of my blog.

Here is hoping folks will enjoy following along with my adventures ...