you never know what you're going to find on the library shelves

Between puppies and storytime preparation, I have had little time for anything else.  Ok, and some mandatory burrowing into blankets and reading.

Today, while manning the desk, I was having a grand time typing up a book review while listening to a few toddlers happily chatter and sing in our play area.

Suddenly an entire row of DVDs on a bottom shelf crashed onto the floor.  I looked around.  No one was in sight.  I stood up to investigate, and as I walked over to the DVDs, I heard some muffled giggling.  That's when I spotted the toddler tucked into the shelf behind the DVDs.

I complimented her on finding the perfect space that was exactly her size and asked why she was hiding.  She responded by staring at me while quietly giggling.

As I put the DVDs away, she grew bold and whispered, "I'm hiding from mommy."  I wasn't too concerned because there were a few adults, including her mom, chatting in the next row and I felt pretty confident her mom knew where she was.  But no matter. I decided to play along.  I asked her how she thought her mom was going to find her since she was so perfectly hidden, and she looked me dead in the eye, and with a volume I haven't heard in awhile, screamed, "Hey mommy, I'm hiding from you!"

ups and downs of storytime

Today I manned the desk during a coworker's storytime.  We had one patron who was frustrated that we were out of tickets for the first storytime.  She kept telling me how frustrated she was, and questioned why she was able to get tickets two minutes before storytime last week but not this week.  Thankfully, my branch has created talking points about our new ticketing system, which we've been using in situations like this.  Basically the reasoning behind our ticketing boils down to a positive storytime experience and safety.  Most patrons seem understanding of these reasons.  Today's patron was one of the few who was too upset to listen so I did the good ol' broken record routine, offered tickets to the later storytime, handed out stickers and stamps, and even brought out our storytime toys a bit early.  During her moment of frustration a very funny thing did happen.  Her daughter looked up at her at one point and said, "you're being a bad mama."  Now I don't know if this was something the child was currently fond of saying and whether it had anything to do with her mom's frustration towards me, but it definitely brought me much-need comedic relief, which I most certainly did not express.

On a brighter note, while waiting for storytime to begin, a family comprised of a mom and three little ones, realized they left something in their car.  As they scurried to get it before storytime began, the oldest boy, who was about five, hollered, "don't start storytime without me!"

you never know when a conversation about Disney princesses will take a sinister turn

This morning a pair of sisters approached the desk and asked for stickers. They took their time and while they sorted through the stickers, Big Sister talked about how she was starting kindergarten soon. Big Sister also talked about how they were wearing their braids like princesses, and so naturally we had a lively discussion about Disney princesses.

A boy approached the desk and asked for the Peter Rabbit movie, and I explained to him, that because the movie was popular, all our copies were checked out.  I then asked if he wanted me to place a hold for him. He nodded his head and, as he walked away, Big Sister abandoned the stickers, leaned in close and asked, "Do you know what happens to bunnies?" 

Before I could answer she made a chopping motion with her hands and shouted, "we eat the bunnies!"

I was too flabbergasted to say anything.

"Do you know what happens to old chickens?" Again she made the chopping motion.  "We eat the old chickens."

Little Sister shouted the word, "egg," which lit Big Sister's face with glee. "Yes," she shouted rather manically. "We eat their babies!"

At this point I attempted to quiet them some because the surrounding children looked horrified didn't look too thrilled with this conversation.

After asking Big Sister to quiet down, she leaned even closer and whispered, "do you want to know what happens to old ducks?"

Thankfully their mother came rushing over, ready to print her document. Or it's possible she heard their joyful shouting about eating babies.

whale kidnapping

Overheard in the children's area:

"Put down the whale."

Ominous silence.

"Elise.  Give me the whale."

Gibberish and wet smacking noises.

"Elise, get that whale out of your mouth!"

A sigh, and then with a more patient voice, "Elise, give me the whale."

More ominous silence followed by squealing and sounds of little feet running.

"Elise, give me the whale.  Elise!  We do not throw whales!"

I know most of you are concerned right now about the whale's well being.  No need to worry, the whale is part of our play space, which is currently ocean-themed, and therefore a rubber toy, and not a real whale.

But the carefree and bumbling world reigned by toddlers is not entirely free of barbaric activity.

After they left, armed with wipes in hand, I inspected the play area and surveyed the aftermath of the whale kidnapping.

When I finally located the injured whale, I discovered a ghastly tear, and worse, a belly bloated with spit.

Do you want to hear something gross about koalas?

A second grader requested a few books about koalas last week for an upcoming "research project."  I found one on shelf and placed three more books on hold for her.  

Today she came in to pick up her holds.  I told her the holds were kept over on the adult side and walked her over to the holds shelf and showed her how to find them.

While we were there she asked me if I wanted to hear something gross about koalas.  I tried changing the subject but to no avail.

She really wanted to tell me something gross about koalas.

So I asked her to whisper it in my ear.  I leaned over and she cupped her fingers around her mouth and giggled like she had a juicy secret to share.

Just a few inches from my ear, she could no longer contain her excitement and loudly shouted, "baby koalas eat their mommy's poop!"

Because we were standing by the holds shelves, which were smack dab in the middle of the adult section, and it was a busy time of day, about a dozen heads whipped toward us all at once.

Meanwhile the little girl began hooting loudly while she waited for my reaction.  So I said, "well that's certainly a surprise, isn't it?" as I looked at the disapproving faces surrounding us.  A few people nodded gamely, one lovely soul gave a small chuckle, and everyone else shot us looks of disgust and hurried away.

And it was a surprise.  A very loud surprise.  

so when are you bringing your unicorn to the library?

Like other libraries, we have a very exciting St. Patrick's display (it has a rainbow).  For part of the display, I taped a black hole pastoral landscape cat cauldron to the wall, and set out a bucket filled with paper shamrocks that actually look like shamrocks.  There is a sign prompting kids and parents to write on a shamrock what they are lucky to have.  I am greatly enjoying this interactive display and have heard some interesting responses (and not just about what the black thing is on the wall).

Today's interaction, however, takes the cake.  

Mom with son (5 or 6 years old) and daughter (toddler) approach desk and look at the shamrocks curiously.

I explain their purpose.

Mom asks daughter what she is lucky to have.  Daughter says brother's name.

Mom asks son what he is lucky to have.  He says, 'unicorns.'

Mom tells son he has to spell it on his own.

Son shouts, "ok then, a dog!"

Mom sighs and says, "but we don't have a dog."

need a gift for a newborn? how about a car?

My manager has been doing a great job introducing me to the kiddos who are regulars at my new library.  I have a lot of names to learn!

Today, after one of these introductions, the little girl blurted, "I have a new baby!"

My manager replied, "Oh you have a new sister."

"Yea," the girl shouted.  "We bought her a car!"

I held back my giggles while grandma explained that they needed a car with more room once sister was born.

This is only the beginning of the awesome and forthright conversations I will have now that I'm on the youth side!