Yes, I'm a Children's Librarian

Top o' the morning' to ya! Happy St. Patty's Day! 

I'm not really into St. Patty's Day. I don't care for shamrock shakes. I don't eat green eggs and ham. But I do wear green. That's the one thing I do because I don't want to be pinched. Ouch. Going through my closet this morning I realized I am lacking seriously in the green clothing department. I found one green sweater I was just not stuffing myself into today, one green t-shirt I've had since the 7th grade (honestly, go show choir ---> Bulldog Express), and a few summer dresses and tanks with a hint of green. My only option seemed to be a brown sweater jacket with a green stripe. It was comfy enough. However, now I need to "think green" during my next shopping excursion.

Plus, I'm heading to the doctor's today, so I need comfy. While I wait around for my appointment, here's a peek at my last Saturday as a children's librarian. You can read my last post here.

8:30-9:30 a.m. While checking emails, I was filling out sick day forms, my time card so I can get paid next Friday, and requesting books for a few upcoming story times. I gathered supplies for crafts next week, and figured out which books I'd read at today's Butler program (see below).

9:30-10:30 a.m. I had an hour to kill before heading over to one of the library's branches to help with a princess program, so I decided to peruse through some children's movie and music titles to see which ones I'd like to order for my collection. I didn't begin to make even a dent in the list. (Guess what I'll be doing next week....?)

10:45-1:00 p.m. Princess Palooza! @ another library branch.

As soon as I arrived, with a lot of pink sprinkles I might add, I began helping Miss Jill (one of my library system's other branches children's librarian) finish any last-minute set-ups while she got into a lovely emerald green princess gown (which would have been perfect for St. Patty's Day, by the way). Guess who forgot her crown on her desk at her far away branch? Yes, sadly I was a crown-less, ball gown-less princess. But we had plenty of other princesses to go around. The program was for children ages 4-8 and lasted about an hour. As the little ones came in dressed in their beautiful dresses, they told me all about their favorite princesses while I filled out their "Princess for a Day" certificates. The most popular princess was by far Ariel.

After they had their certificates and the parents filled out photo permission forms, the princesses had three crafts to entertain them for the first half hour. They could make crowns, create their own miniature princess, and make a princess bracelet (pictured above). At 11:30, Miss Jill gathered all of the princesses together for one big photo, and then I led them into another room where our surprise guest, Princess Snow White, was waiting. Snow White read a story to the little princesses, and afterwards answered questions about the dwarves, her children, how she stays so beautiful, and her prince charming.

Next, all of the girls gathered together for the Princess Hokey Pokey, and then Miss Jill surprised them with the song "Let it Go" (from the latest princess blockbuster, Frozen) in which every single girl, at the top of her lungs, serenaded Snow White with because she did not know the song. While everyone was singing and dancing, I quickly put out the crown sugar cookies to be decorated with pink frosting and sprinkles galore. Along with their royal treat, the girls enjoyed pink strawberry milk (or water).

Around noon, the princesses slowly started leaving, and I began clean-up duties. Snow White did a wonderful job, and it was nice hearing someone else read to the kids. This program might be repeated at other locations this fall....

1:00-1:30 p.m. Lunch time! After helping Miss Jill get her children's department somewhat back to normal, I headed back to my branch where I enjoyed a quick lunch of leftover spaghetti, and a few pages of my latest book before heading down the street to The Butler Museum, the Howland location.

1:45-2:30 p.m. Family Day at The Butler

One Saturday a month, September through April, the Butler Museum and my library team up to host a "family day" where the kids hear a few stories (read by a children's librarian, usually me because I'm the closest), learn about whatever art happens to be on display at the time, and then finish with an art craft relating to the museum's latest art works. This month, as well as last month, pin ball machines have decorated the Butler rooms. Would you believe how hard it is to find a children's book with a pin ball machine in it?

Last month, Sandy (the volunteer who directs the art portion) had the kids paint with marbles because that's kind of like a pin ball. This month she had the kids create a bird out of plaster because 1) spring is near! and 2) most of these kids enjoy playing Angry Birds, which allowed her to compare that game with older games, like pin ball. Normally, I read two longer children's books (since the age range for this program is 5-10), and this time I read Puffin Peter by  Petr Horacek (which featured different types of birds with great illustrations) and I Know a Wee Piggy by Kim Norman (which featured a pig running around the county fair getting into quite the colorful mess). Then I quickly highlighted any big upcoming programs at the library, and after the kids walked around looking at the art, err game machines, while a volunteer pointed out some feature that will tie into the art activity.

Here is the bird craft the kids were very excited to make.

2:45-4:00 p.m. I spent the rest of the day at my branch catching up on some new book arrivals, emails, and figuring out my Tuesday night Yogi Kids program. Since I knew I was taking Monday off, I had to make sure everything was ready for when I come in on Tuesday. This month's yoga program is pajama-themed and for children in grades K-3, so I'm planning games and an owl moon craft. The main game is a BINGO yoga, and laminating the cards and getting together the prizes took up most of my time.

4:00-5:00 p.m. My last hour of the day consisted of a major department clean-up. The children's area and shelves were a complete mess. I'm not sure if there were a lot of kids in on Friday afternoon or during the day while I wasn't here, but good night! Children were busy! Books were everywhere and out of place, and stuffed animals and games were strewn about. Plus, one of the circulation staff members found another job, so the staff is short and I was assisting them when needed. I was busy re-shelving children's books, yet I think they kept multiplying on the cart. Right before closing, I ran to the basement (a.k.a. storage central/craft supplies heaven) to grab a few craft supplies, and the humongous tote of Legos to be shipped off to another library branch for their upcoming Lego's program next Saturday.

All in all it was a busy, program-filled Saturday at the library :)

With Love and God Bless,
Brindi