The End of the Season

YOU GUYS! SUMMER READING IS OVER!

We've handed out prizes, held raffles, stopped serving lunches and generally wrapped up shop. Most of the kids went back to school on Monday and for the first time in three months, we've been able to breathe.

So how did summer reading go? Well, at our little branch summer reading completion was up over 300% from last year. 300%! Sign-ups were also much higher. I talked to a few parents and they attributed this to Ms. E and me pushing summer reading harder than ever before, and the prizes being better too. It's hard to argue with that, when for the first time ever there was a Chipotle coupon for half-way finishers and everyone got an actual prize- a book- when they completed the program, in addition to being entered into the raffle for a Kindle Fire.

Our finisher wall

For the first time this year, we also had a separate program for the Read With Me crowd, ages birth to five.

Close up on the best ever way to spell "Dylan"

This program also went a long way to pushing up our numbers. It made absolutely zero sense for an 18 month old to be held to the same standard of "reading" as a 10 year old and, I'm convinced, turned off a lot of parents from participating in past years.

This year we had a game board with all sorts of activities promoting early literacy- we sang a song together, we talked about what we saw on a walk, we went to a library program, we practiced counting to 10 etc... 

Putting these sorts of things in an early literacy summer reading program not only legitimized/validated what a lot of parents are already doing with their child, it gave us a great way to talk more about the six components of early literacy and what programs at the library are focused on early literacy development.

All that being said, I'm super looking forward to fall and what back to school season has to offer. 

Sayonora Summer Reading, see you next year!

The Library at 22 Months

Thursday marks my two year anniversary as a public library librarian. With so many story time kids running around, I tend to think in a lot of toddler terms, which means I'm about to be 24 months into this career (22 months at this particular branch).

One of our partnerships that I don't think I've mentioned yet is with a group called Early Stages. Early Stages is part of the public school system here and they specialize in early intervention for kids who may need special services. Once a month an Early Stages Representative comes to story time and chats with parents about developmental milestones and when and how they can have their children assessed. The last time Early Stages was here I snagged a handout on developmental benchmarks for 2 year olds and started thinking about how they apply to me as well.

By their second birthday most children:

• Walk alone
I'm becoming more and more adept at handling the children's room by myself. I no longer quiver in fear when someone takes a sick day. I have discovered the grace and confidence to handle hoards of rowdy children who have just discovered the opposite sex.

• Carry toys while walking
I still can't use props efficiently during story time. I see my co-worker, Ms. E., bust out the big books and puppets or juggle multiple musical instruments and I think "hmm, that's ambitious." Maybe next year, until then I've got my trusty flannel board sets.

• Climb on and off furniture 
After months of cajoling and a few loaves of home-made bread, our facilities guy finally gave me a ladder to keep. No more waiting for someone to show up if I want to hang things from the ceiling (or justifying why I absolutely need giant poofballs falling from the ceiling) and I almost always want to hang things from the ceiling. This small addition has given me more flexibility and allowed me to think more creatively in terms of presenting the room. It's very liberating. (I was tempted to make a Martina McBride Independence Day joke here, but I couldn't figure out how to word it so I'll just leave you with this.) In conjunction with the ladder, more and more large scale displays have begun to go up. We had the Baby Mouse Wall and the 25 Days of Art Gallery. Ms. E takes care of most of the book displays and face-outs on the shelves while I change out program bulletin boards and make elaborate collages out of tissue paper. This room is so much more lively and inviting than when I first walked in 22 months ago and I'm very proud of the transformation.

• Scribble with crayon
Programs are expanding. We've gone from 2 every month to at least one a week. And during the summer we've been experimenting with theme weeks. We had a week long no-heat cooking club where we made pickles and salads and smoothies with spinach and coming up next month there will be a week dedicated to fashion, inspired partially by the super successful tutu making party we had back in June. Thanks to a new Friends group who seem very excited to spend money, arts programs are taking off

• Recognize names of familiar people, objects and body parts
I pride myself on knowing the names, families and a lot of the personal dramas of the kids I see each day. I know their name by the third time they come in and by the fifth time I know who shouldn't be sitting next to them at the computers; working up here is like watching a soap opera all day long. For some reason I'm not as good with adult names, parents just don't register like their children do.


• Follow simple instructions (1 or 2 steps)
It's been a tough transition to a new manager. We're being asked to do more and more things, with very little credit or recognition of the program heavy schedule that we have and the sheer amount of face time that goes into knowing the kids and being able to diffuse situations before they escalate too far. I was recently sent to a clutter workshop, during work hours when I had a stack of things to do on my desk, because the new manager thinks our workroom is too messy. We're working on our communication and effective strategies for helping her understand exactly what we do during any given day. Hopefully by the time we open with extended hours in October we'll all be on the same page.

• Begin to sort objects by shapes and colors
Weeding knows no end. In the past 3 months all of the paperbacks have been sorted, integrated or discarded. A shocking amount of our books aren't in the catalog- which just goes to show how long it's been since someone tried to check them out. Ms. E worked for 3 months on the Juv J books and did an amazing job organizing holiday books and the overflow collection. I spent a few extra days working through our problem shelf and laughing at some of the ridiculous CDs that have managed to stand the test of time. I keep telling myself that once the kids go back to school I'll have the time and the motivation to tackle non-fiction. While weeding can be super tedious, it does give me the chance to learn the collection better and to make sure we're not circulating books that give population data for Burma from 1995.

• Imitate behavior of others
I'm picking up a lot of slang and a lot of vernacular that would make an English teacher cry. "You do too much" is not a compliment, although I always thank the kids for recognizing my hard work when they spit it at me. I can't even explain what "You got me guh" means, it's more a feeling then anything.They laugh when I tell them to "walk it out" when they're running, because adults aren't supposed to know about rap music. They're even more perplexed when I can finish the first verse of "Baby Got Back" whenever someones says "Oh my god, Becky" in that particularly snotty way. Seriously though, that song is old enough to be most of these kid's mothers- if songs could have kids- it should not be as popular as it still is.

• Want to do things for themselves
I've never had a problem with wanting to do things by myself. In fact, I'm actively learning how to let go and be okay with other people doing things. Whether that means not always doing a story time, letting the kids help with displays even when I don't necessarily like the end result or delegating tasks to teen workers, this year has been in exercise in not needing everything to be my way all of the time.

2013 Reading Challenge Check-In

Welcome Back! Happy July!

It's hard to believe the year is half over, I literally have no idea where the time went. None.

At the beginning of the year, Ms. E and I issued a challenge to ourselves, the kids and their caregivers. We wanted to see how many books and how much time we spent reading during 2013. I personally pledged to read 100 books during the year, and we got several of the kids to set their own goals as well. In order to keep track of our reading goals and challenges, we set up the dot wall. You can read more about it here, but the rules are pretty simple. Read a book, or read for 20 minutes, get a dot.

The wall looked like this when we started back in January.

And here's how it looks today!

We've filled up the entire wall behind our desk! Where to go from here? Don't worry, we'll figure it out. And soon, we've got even more dots just waiting to be added.

If you're a person who likes number breakdowns, it goes a little something like this.

There are over 280 dots on the wall, representing 5 adults and over 50 kids and teens. A pair of brothers have dominated the wall, contributing over 50 dots between the two of them. I have read 46 books, just a little behind schedule!

Bloggirversary

So while I was on my mini-hiatus, a very big thing happened. The blog turned one year old. That's right, I've been doing this for an entire year (and one month). I was going to do something special to celebrate what seems like a pretty big milestone to me. But of course, without regular posts during some of October and all of November, I forgot. 

But never fear! I know from experience that some of the best moms out there forget their own childrens' birthdays (to her credit she remembered like 4 minutes later and called to apologize (I love you Momma)), so we'll just do what you gotta do in that situation- suck it up and have a 13 month celebration featuring a look back at the last year.

First of all, I wanted to say thank you to everyone out there who reads this blog, and have stuck with it through the fallow period. When I started I thought it would be me, my family and a few friends that I could guilt into reading it. I'm pretty sure that's still my core audience but getting feedback from others in the library and kids' crafty business has been beyond valuable and a thrill.

As of today there have been 17,790 total page views for In the Children's Room (that's almost 20,000 y'all!)

The most viewed post is Little Mouse, Little Mouse.

The most viewed post that isn't related to Flannel Friday is the 3-Dimensional Sign tutorial.

The most popular search that brings people to the blog is some variation of learning how to make Hunger Games parachutes.

26 people have searched for my blog by name!

And Google and Pinterest are responsible for over 77% of traffic referred to the blog.

Speaking of Pinterest...

The most pinned most was the Flannel Friday (surprise, surprise) Monster Lunch.

The most liked pin was the super cute Paper Plate Masks we made with our farm themed story time.

So that's the year looking back. Thanks to everyone who made it as much fun as it was. Looking forward, I'm going to spend the next few weeks re-learning what keeping a regular blogging schedule feels like, as well as back-date some posts to fill in some of the two month gap. I'm hoping to find the time, patience and learn the wherewithall for a redesign at some point in the next year. 

Mazel Tov

This post is a day later than usual, but I have a good reason. Or a few.

On a personal level, I moved last week. I love my new house and my new roommates, but I've been spending a lot of non-library time organizing and making things like curtains or light fixtures for light fixtureless dining rooms. Planning ahead for the blog has fallen by the wayside for right now. I'm sure the time will come when the fall garden is planted and the couch has a new slip cover (and oh boy does it need one) and I can 

On a professional level, the library is in a state of flux, with staff members leaving and new ones scheduled to come but not quite here yet. I've been the only person working in the children's room since the beginning of August and it'll stay that way until the end of September. Public school starting up again has given me a chance to breathe, but also brings with it a whole new set of challenges. 

It's really easy for me to have a bad day, or even a bad 15 minutes, where I have to put on my mean voice or mediate some dispute or tell the 3rd child for the 15th time in a row not to run. And in those bad days, or those bad 15 minutes, it's hard to keep in mind why I love doing what I do.

But today? This today has been an outpouring of love for me and for my library and the community that it has created.

This morning I went to my very first Bris.

Story time is about to have its new, youngest ever participant. A beautiful baby brother for a joy of a 2 year old big sister and the new son for one of the families that has really helped sustain and support me throughout my first year at this library. Everyone there kept thanking me for coming, like it was a such a big deal for me to be there, like it reflected on the type of person I am that I would come to this to support and congratulate the family. But the whole time I was thinking the exact opposite, what an honor and a privilege to be invited to something so intimate, that a family I see twice a week at the most would ask me to share in this moment, what a reflection on the generosity and love that they share with each other and with their community.

I was obviously out of place; I had to ask what lox was and at one point the paternal grandmother came over to me and said "Honey, you are by far the least ethnic looking person here." But that's part of what makes my job so special; the library is a meeting point for people who would have otherwise never have crossed paths. I get to help facilitate that and sometimes, when I'm super lucky, I get to be one of those people.

Whenever someone asks me why I work in public libraries it's usually to be polite and I usually say it's because I like to read. But if they actually seem interested then I tell them stories like this, about how the library really is a third place, and how it's more than the books, it's the people.

Revamping the Blog

You my have noticed last week that I went off my usual Monday, Wednesday, Friday posting schedule.

You may have noticed that it has continued this week.

And if you're really perceptive, you may have noticed that my "About This Blog" page has changed pretty dramatically.

From my new and improved "About This Blog" page:

Some would say 4 months is too soon for a blog to need a new voice. To those people, I say "HA, just watch me."

For those of you who were reading for my scandalous tales of misbehaving youth, I'm sorry. Send me an e-mail and I'll tell you lots of good stories. Promise.

For those of you who were reading because you love my craft projects oh so much and can't wait to see what I'll devote way too much of my free time with next, I'm starting a new blog for that. Again, send me an e-mail and I'll hook you up with the url.

As always you can reach me at inthechildrensroom@gmail.com or on Twitter at @lucymaudm

Why the new direction? Well, I had a series of interviews over the last few weeks for a position in a different library system. I didn't end up getting the job, which was heartbreaking in itself (a lot of my very close friends work there and it would have been wonderful to see them every day and to learn from them as I continue growing professionally.)

But worse than not being offered the job was the feeling that I wasn't showing them all I could do. I answered their questions and even did a sample story time but I felt like it wasn't enough. I wanted to tell them about this blog. To show them the flannel board sets that I make and how they work within the context of a story time. To show them the book reviews and the projects that we try to do with our kids. But there was a lot of cursing. And so many of my side projects.

The blog as it was didn't offer a cohesive look at what I'm capable of in a library setting. It didn't serve as a portfolio. Hopefully, with these few changes I'll have something that I'm proud to show potential employers, will chart my growth as a librarian, and will serve as a resource for other librarians looking for ideas.

And if you read all of that, thank you and welcome to the shiny new version of In the Children's Room

Bad Ass Library Find of the Week: Marcus Garvey and My Stand for Civil Rights

This post is kind of a cheat. I've been sitting on this particular Bad Ass Library Find for about 3 months now, just waiting for a time when I would look at the calendar, see that it was a Monday, Wednesday or Friday and not have anything else in mind.

Today is just such a day.

When I first got to this branch the children's room was arranged in a way that I didn't quite agree with. The paperback and hardcover fiction was separated and so it was pretty common to look in two places for one title. Series were inter-shelved by author's last name, even when there were multiple authors (39 Clues, Choose Your Own Adventure). The worst though was that the biography section was divided into "Black" and "White."

Even beyond the icky racial implications, this was no good. The section was a pure disaster to organize. No one seemed quite sure where to shelve Mother Theresa, Geronimo, Sonia Sotomayor or the other non-white, non-black notable figures from history. Not to mention the fact that Thurgood Marshall had biographies in both sections. One of my first acts as a bonafide children's librarian was to integrate the biographies. Consider it my personal stand for civil rights.

I got to know the biographies pretty well over the course of those few hours and was pretty amazed to find this gem.

A children's book about Marcus Garvey? That's nothing short of groundbreaking, really. I never, ever, learned about him in any sort of formal setting and certainly not when I was a child. Maybe that's indicative of the schools I went to, but I don't think controversial figures like Marcus Garvey get a fair shake when the civil rights movement is taught. A cursory mention of Malcolm X to provide the yang to Martin Luther King Jr.'s yin is the most I ever heard.

I haven't read the entire book, but I was curious to see how the founder of the Back to Africa movement would be presented to children, so I have skimmed a few sections. Here's my favorite couple of sentences...

To beat the [prohibition] deadline, the Green River Distillery Company rapidly loaded 4.8 million dollars' worth of whiskey onto the Yarmouth [the ship belonging to the Black Star Line, Garvey's all black owned and operated shipping company] for its second voyage to Cuba. Once again, the old ship listed seriously as it left the dock. Two days later, about one hundred miles from the Cuban harbor the ship began to sink. The crew was drunk when the U.S. Coast Guard arrived to tow the ship back to New York, where Government agents were waiting to seize the cargo.

Story Time Anticipation Models

I made a chart. It's highly scientific. Just look at how well I spaced my x-axis intervals (just typing that made me feel even more scientific).

This is a chart that demonstrates how I feel for the hour before story time. It's a vicious cycle, one I repeat every single Tuesday, Thursday and second Saturday of the month. You'd think I'd have learned by now to just chill out, to trust that just like in a Field of Dreams, I have built something that they will come to. But no, record lev

els of freakage-outage are reported every week.

When looking at this chart, please bear in mind that in a perfect world story time starts promptly at 10:30.

And as an added bonus, here's a new feature I like to call Badass Library Find of the Week in which we'll examine some of the particular gems that my branch has to offer the children of this fine city.

This week's Badass Library Find of the Week is holiday themed and it goes to:



Parents are asking for Christmas music these days, they want it all. Still, I saw three separate moms pick up and then put back down the 2007 classic Yo Yo Yo Kids: Yo, It's Christmas CD. When the room cleared out after story time, I put it on the CD player just to see what was up. It was worse than expected. The sticker on the back has a total of two check out stamps and it's easy to see why.