Winter Woolies

Made this kitty paper-doll thing to go with Douglas Florian's poem, "Winter Wool" from his book Winter Eyes. Probably best printed on card stock. Remember: color before cutting!
The pants and the boots aren't mentioned in the poem, but there was room for them and perhaps some kitties would rather wear pants than skirts (but I made the skirt a kilt anyway).
The cat form is based on a sweet bear paper doll by Karen available here, but I made the clothes.
Feel free to use!

Lip Service To Sports

If you're like me, the idea of a summer reading program based on sports and being active is 1) a contradiction in terms and b) just not your thing. I rejected the idea of sports-oriented storytimes, even though I'd be doing them in a park. At the last minute, though, I changed my mind. Work out of your comfort zone, I told myself. There are plenty of picture books about sports and games. It's only eight storytimes. You can do this!

Yes, there are plenty of books, but not that many flannelboards or fingerplays. Oh, there's "Take Me Out To The Ballgame." I searched all over the internet and found some football related flannelboard stuff - but football (Amurrikin football) is a fall thing. And basketball is a winter thing. And summers down here are just too darn hot.

But I decided I could make up my own stuff, so I will share it here with you. Some may have been inspired by bits and pieces I've seen elsewhere, but most of this is just my own work. Have fun with them!

Baseball:

Hi-Ho It's Baseball Time!

The pitcher's on the mound,
The pitcher's on the mound,
Hi-Ho, it's baseball time,
The pitcher's on the mound.

The catcher's at the plate ...

The batter's in the box ...

The umpire calls the strikes ...

The fielder catches flies ...

The shortstop makes the play ...

The runner's out at third ...

The runner's safe at home ...

The crowd stands and cheers ...

The Ball In the Air

The ball in the air goes round and round,
round and round, round and round.
The ball in the air goes round and round
In the baseball field.

The bat in the hand goes swish-swish-swish ...
In the baseball field.

The glove on the hand goes up and down ...
In the baseball field.

The batter who hit goes 'round the bases ...
In the baseball field.

The umpire at the base yells, "Yeeeer out!" ...
In the baseball field.

Soccer:

Hi Ho It's Soccer Time!

The ball is out of bounds,
The ball is out of bounds,
Hi ho, it's soccer time,
The ball is out of bounds.

The player scores a goal ...

The yellow card is up ...

The player is offside ...

The whistle stops the play ...

(Yes, I know I'm overdoing this format)

We'll Be Running Down the Field

We'll be running down the field, yes we will.
We'll be running down the field, yes we will.
We'll be running down the field
When we play soccer for real.
We'll be running down the field, yes we will.

We'll be dribbling with our feet, yes we will.
We'll be dribbling with our feet, yes we will.
We'll be dribbling with our feet -
I thinks that's really neat!
We'll be dribbling with our feet, yes we will.

We will bounce the ball off ankles, knees, and head.
We will bounce the ball off ankles, knees, and head.
We will bounce the ball off ankles
'Cause using our hands rankles.
We will bounce the ball off ankles, knees, and head.


Head and Elbows, Knees and Toes

Head and elbows, knees and toes, knees and toes.
Head and elbows, knees and toes, knees and toes.
We don't use our hands to make a goal.
Head and elbows, knees and toes, knees and toes.


Swimming!

Splash and Kick
To "Down By the Station"

When the sun is shining,
I like to go swimming.
Swimming at the lake
Or swimming at the pool.
Splashing and kicking;
Water all around me.
Splash, splash, kick, kick,
Keeping cool.

Swimming

I can dive.
(move hands flattened together)
I can swim.
(Swimming motion)
I can float
(hands out to sides with head thrown back)
And hold my breath.
(hold breath)
But dog paddle
(paddle like a dog)
Is the stroke
That I do best.

In My Swimming Pool
(To "Do Your Ears Hang Low")

I can stay real cool
In my little swimming pool.
On a sunny summer day
I can splash around and play.
When I wear my bathing suit,
I'll be cool and I'll be cute
In my swimming pool!


Football:

If You're Practicing For Football

If you're practicing for football, run in place.
If you're practicing for football, run in place.
If you want to play the game
Not to practice is a shame.
If you're practicing for football, run in place.

If you're practicing for football, touch your toes ...

If you're practicing for football, say "Hut-hut!"

Football Player

Football player, football player,
Throw the ball!
(Hold one hand back like you are going to throw a football)
Catch the pass!
(Pull both hands to chest as if catching a football)
Run and don't get tackled
(Pretend to run)
Run and don't get tackled
It's a touchdown! It's a touchdown!
(Hold both arms straight up to signal a touchdown.)


Martial Arts:

Only because there are those cute ninja books

Ninja, Ninja, Sneak Around

Ninja, ninja - sneak around.
Ninja, ninja - roll on the ground.
Ninja, ninja - climb up high.
Ninja, ninja - touch the sky.
Ninja, ninja - jump down low.
Ninja, ninja - go, go, go!

If You're a Ninja And You Know It!

If you're a ninja and you know it,
Be really quiet! (Shhh!)
If you're a ninja and you know it,
Be really quiet! (Shhh!)
If you're a ninja and you know it,
Then your face will surely show it.
If you're a ninja and you know it,
Be really quiet! (Shhh!)

If you're a ninja and you know it,
Walk on tip-toe (Tip toe.) ...

If you're a ninja and you know it,
Say HIYAH! (HIYAH!) ...

Five Little Ninjas

Five little ninjas creeping through the door.
One said HIYAH!, and then there were four.

Four little ninjas climbing up a tree.
One said HIYAH!, and then there were three.

Three little ninjas with nothing to do.
One said HIYAH!, and then there were two.

Two little ninjas having so much fun.
One said HIYAH!, and then there was one.

One little ninja on the run.
He says HIYAH! and then there were none.

Five Little Ninjas Jumping On the Bed
(Don't tell me you can't figure this one out on your own!)

Five little ninjas jumping on the bed.
One fell off and bumped his head.
Momma called the doctor and the doctor said,
"No more ninjas jumping on the bed!"

etc.


Dance:

Don't forget that dance is highly athletic!

Ballet Dancer, Ballet Dancer

Ballet dancer, ballet dancer, turn around.
Ballet dancer, ballet dancer, touch the ground.
Ballet dancer, ballet dancer, stand on your toes.
Ballet dancer, ballet dancer, strike a pose.

Ballet dancer, ballet dancer, stretch to the sky.
Ballet dancer, ballet dancer, lift a leg high.
Ballet dancer, ballet dancer, plié now.

Ballet dancer, ballet dancer, take a bow.

 

Summertime Storytime

Magnolia Park

This has probably been my least successful summer storytime experience. I had high hopes for the "Every Hero Has a Story" theme because it would give me a chance to break into the folktales, many of which are a bit beyond the usual pre-school level I aim at during the school year. What folktale doesn't have its hero?

Summer storytime at our library takes place mostly at the local parks, lovely venues with a shelter that offers shade. This began in the days when the air conditioning in the Children's Room was not working. It was a constant 82 degrees in there and at 10 am it would be cooler in the park, especially with a nice breeze going. They tried numerous times to repair the a/c, but if it worked, the a/c in the rest of the building didn't. Three years ago we moved into a brand new building and now freeze our toes off in summer.

I have discovered limitations to park storytimes including and not limited to: breezes blowing the flannelboard over (fixed that by using one that hung around my neck or one on a stick), hands getting too sticky for hand puppets (only stick puppets now), and groundskeepers' noise (... no real fix for that). Otherwise, we continue doing storytimes in the parks even though we have the lovely new building and working a/c.

The parks usually have children already there, whether they expected storytime or not. It might be difficult to get them to come listen but then again it acquaints more people with our library programs, so it's great PR. This year I had a bumper crop of kids from a nearby church's summer camp, but they weren't interested in storytime. Even after the adults forced them to get off the playground equipment and come sit in the shade, they would get bored and wander off. Subsequently, they were coerced before I got there to stay put, but I could see that they just weren't into what I was doing although the books were clearly aimed at the predominant group of older kids.

I had to rethink my whole plan. I set aside all the books I'd been so excited about (Robin Hood, Perseus, etc.) and fell back on Shark In the Park! I made 30 shark masks and combined two paper towel rolls to make a telescope. The storytime dwindled from 30 minutes to 15.

After July 4th, it usually all peters out and it happened again. The group didn't come and I had 30 Midas Mouse (I was sneaking some folktale back in with stick puppets) coloring sheets that were barely used. I had two kids and their grandma and they could not sit still.

It crept back up again when a different group came by last week. They had no idea I had been doing storytimes every week. Hurray! Now they know - although there are only 2 weeks left. Next week it's monkeys. It's more like pre-school storytime, but I just don't know who will be coming.

I will still continue with storytime in the parks, but I am on the fence about continuing with the summer themes in storytimes. On the one hand, it did not serve me well this summer and I had to throw out all the preparation I'd done (which was only one month's worth, but still!). On the other hand, the themes give me a chance to stretch myself. I might be choosing books I do not normally use and have to augment those choices with new flannel boards and fingerplays.

The main lesson is, and this works for all kinds of storytimes, Don't Be Afraid to Throw It All Out and Start Over.

Cambridge Park

If You're Happy And You Know It

I'm considering adding some new verses to this perennial favorite opening song.

If you're happy and you know it squeal in a pitch that makes paint peel.
If you're happy and you know it squeal in a pitch that makes paint peel.
If you're happy and you know it, your high-pitched squeal will show it.
If you're happy and you know it squeal in a pitch that makes paint peel.

If you're happy and you know it roll backwards and then forwards and slam your feet on the floor.
If you're happy and you know it roll backwards and then forwards and slam your feet on the floor.
If you're happy and you know it your somersaults will show it.
If you're happy and you know it roll backwards and then forwards and slam your feet on the floor.

My storytime regulars are so enthusiastic. No amount of correction from the mom seems to curb them. Don't squeal! No amount of correction from me seems to help. Stay seated!
And it just encourages the other children to try these variants on storytime behavior.

Sigh, only two more weeks of storytime and by the time I see them again, they'll be three to four months older and we'll see if we can start off with an Expected Behavior Lecture.

Phone Etiquette for Calling (Me at) Your Library

I don't always answer the phone here,
but when I do, I'm the Etiquette Police.

Okay, here's how it works. You call the library.

Ring! Ring!
Me: Your Local Library! May I help you?
You: Hello. I have a question. Are you open on Saturdays?
Me: Yes, indeed. We are open from Insanely Stupid Hour to Another Silly Hour.
Etc.
You: Thank you. You were very helpful and not at all snide!
Me: You're welcome! It's so refreshing to talk to someone who knows what they want.
[Hang up.]

Not:

Ring! Ring!
Me: Your Local Library! May I help you?
You: How are you?
Me: ... uhhhh. [Thinks: Who is this? Do they know me?] Fine?

When "How are you?" is appropriate:

Ring! Ring!
Me: Your Local Library! May I help you?
You: Hello, I'm calling to ask ... Wait a minute! Is this Miss Marf?
Me: Yes, it is ...
You: This is [Insert name of child who used to come to my storytime 20 years ago and is now married with a kid]! How are you?
Me: Ohhhhhh, [name inserted while I desperately try to remember who it is]! So good to hear from you! I'm doing quite well. How are you?
You: I'm just great! I'm in law school now. I was calling to find out about your hours on Saturdays.

See the difference? In one case, it was someone who was just calling for information and was a stranger. In the other, it was someone who knew and remembered me (even if I could not immediately recall them - which happens all the time). But I get this "How are you?" gambit all the time. As much as I'd like to respond with some version of, "Excuse me, but who is this?" I realize that I am at a public service desk and while I might think correcting someone's phone etiquette constitutes a "public service," I bet my boss doesn't.

So, I'm telling you. Have a nice day!

For Tat

I suppose it says something about the internet that I reluctantly did not include the first part of that expression.

A while ago, I heard that one of our branches did some great programs with Legos. Now, just to play effectively with Legos you need a lot of them. The branch manager had groups of kids building. It occurred to me that when we bought our Lego table and Duplo blocks (because they're too big to be swallowed and can be left out), we were accidentally sent some of the smaller blocks. We had two unopened bags of them stored for a few years, forgotten.
I sent them to the branch. My boss wasn't thrilled. What if we wanted to do a program with them? Ahhh, but if we do, how much more likely we are to get all the ones from the branch as well as those back! Won't the branch look more kindly upon us? The two bags we had weren't enough to do a program with, unless there were very few kids. Besides, it got more junk out of our storage and to a place where someone would use them. Win-win-win!
Cast your Legos (and other resources) upon the waters ...

A blogpost on how to do a program here: http://showmelibrarian.blogspot.com/2012/11/how-to-host-lego-club.html

I Hate the Movies

Not the actual model.

We have a (relatively) new library with a fabulous (ha) projector system that's supposed to play Blu-Ray and project laptops onto a screen that is supposed to come down and go back up in a reasonable fashion.

Me, I would rather sit and read to 50 squirmy kids for 90 minutes than have to try to operate this useless piece of techsrement. It did come with some sort of remote, but not the sort of remote that you or I use for watching DVDs at home - oh no! I'm not sure what it does, but the remote isn't in anyway useful. In fact, I didn't know we even had one until out of desperation in trying to figure something out, I opened the case on the wall. The remote was inside. Ah, so it wouldn't get lost, I imagine. It would have been nice to have known it was in there, even if it's useless.

This equipment, which was undoubtedly expensive, came with no guide or operation manual. If there had been one, the installers took it with them when they left, just before they hid the remote inside the casing. We have no idea what we're doing most of the time. The only advice they gave me was "Never turn this off," and the man pointed at the main switch. "It will mess up the programming." I have never turned it off. I dutifully put a sign next to that switch that says "Never turn off."

It would also have been nice if there was some audio input so that I could play my puppet show recordings, but no. I have to set my boombox up on the stage for puppet audio.

It's useless. Just plain without any sense or rhyme.

Today we had to show a movie, and I suggested we get going 45 minutes ahead because I know this trash heap can be ... finicky. We inserted the Blu-Ray, pressed the Blu-Ray button and a selection screen was projected. There was no way to make a selection and it would not move past that screen to play. We tried everything. By this time there are now three of us working on it. We tried the laptop, and that was taking forever to come up. We clicked the laptop button and waited for the disc to start up. Nothing but the blue screen of death was being projected. And the laptop wouldn't give the disc back. Finally, I pressed the laptop button again and it came on. We were able to choose "English" and the video progressed.

We were done with five minutes to spare and not all the popcorn was ready, but it was close. This happens almost every time we use the contraption. Something is always going wrong and we have to bash at buttons and find work-arounds.

Meantime, it's busy out in the Children's Room. People are signing up for Summer Reading and asking questions. Fortunately, the internet and wireless were down, so that cut down quite a bit of that sort of traffic. However, I was a quivering blob by then.

I hate that system. It's useless. I can't think of another word than "useless," unless with some sort of string of emphatic intensifiers. I can only hope that the next time they plan to show a movie (even more annoying is that the person who set up the movie schedule no longer works here to handle it herself), I will be either in another country or on another planet.

Please, please let us not show any more movies. Shoot me first.

Stop Me If You've Heard This One ...

The library is a public space, and as a public space, we have to allow the public inside. This causes all sorts of problems: the public likes to touch the books, the public likes to take books home, the public brings the books back. Most of these are problems that are actually a feature of the business we're in.
There are many other little things that crop up from time to time. I have often had to wear the Psychiatrist Hat. When we were between cleaning help, I had to clean the bathrooms in my area - and this has happened in both the old and the new library. Now, one expects poo to be a part of this, if one is cleaning a bathroom. One might not expect it elsewhere in the library, but it did happen once in the stacks and a patron had to point it out, after it had even been trodden a bit into the carpet by either an unsuspecting child or, perhaps, a suspected one.
At the old library, we had access to some cleaning products and paper towels and I personally cleaned that up.
Now, I told  you that story to tell  you this next one.
Once upon an old library with a one-person cleaning crew, there was another one of these accidents that happened in the adult area. An adult was not quick enough and left a ... spoor from the magazine/reading area, past the circulation desk, and finally to the bathroom. The woman who had been working in the Reference Room nearby took the initiative to clean it up herself before it became ground in, as had happened in my area.
Her idea was to get a broom and sweep it up onto paper and she was in a hurry. The cleaning woman had a broom. The cleaning woman was there. There ensued the sort of scene worthy of The Lucy Show.
The cleaning woman would not give up the broom for this. It was a clean broom. No amount of cajoling or promises to immediately buy a new broom for her induced the cleaning woman to relinquish her broom.
The reason I know about this is because there was a chase scene starting from the ... spoor all around to the Children's Room where a tug-of-war erupted right in front of me. So, picture, if you will, two middle-aged women tugging a broom back and forth and arguing, in the middle of the Children's Room of a public library. Moments like these are precious jewels in my memory. Hold that scene in your mind and add whatever colorful elements you choose. End it however you like when you are ready and sufficiently amused. If you want to know how it was resolved, the reference librarian had weight on her side and she finally got possession of the broom and scurried off to clean up. The cleaning woman muttered imprecations and quit right then.
I was reminded of this story today when a child peed on the carpet and all I had was a roll of paper towels, all the cleaning products being locked up for the professional crew.

Mommies Talk During Storytime

We all remember Miss Marf's cellphone song:

I [C] went to the storytime (or  puppet show)] [Am] with my mom,
[F] but she left her [G] cellphone on.
The [C] cellphone rang and she [Am] took the call.
[F] Now we're [G7] not allowed back [C] in at all.

Followed by: Now, let's turn off our cellphones [mime this] and put them away [mime putting in your pocket].

I've added a verse for the mommies that talk during storytime. Not just a bit, but all through storytime.

We [C] love our storytime, [Am] but as we sat,
[F] some of the mommies in the [G] back would chat.
Soon [C] no one paid attention and [Am] Miss Marf got sore.
[F] Now our story [G7] teller is a [C] mean dinosaur.

I resisted the insertion of a verse about how Miss Marf retired in a snit (because of the tempting rhyme problems) or a huff.

[Edit: Likely ukulele chords added later. Arrange your own tune around it, or write your own.]

Confessions of a Careless Patron

One day, I was listening to the audio of this book, but had to go to work. I was at a critical point in the narrative. I picked up the copy we had at work (fortuitously checked in!) and read for a bit. I left it on my desk.
I haven't seen it since.

This was months ago. I renewed it and continued to look for it for quite a while. Things came to a head today when I finished a downloaded book and tried to log into the Jasmine Digital Library ... and it said I had an overdue book and it had cut off my access! This was almost as bad as the day it told me my card had expired and I was unable to get another book until the library opened the next day!

I came in and went to the circulation desk to try to settle my account (bringing my wallet with me) but it was busy and I ended up helping to check out books instead. When it calmed down I explained my problem to a co-worker who was loathe to charge me for the book.

"But I lost the book!" I said. She got the circulation manager. They looked at the charge: $25. They didn't want to charge me that. Aw, shhhhugar - I can pay it! Well, then they wouldn't charge me the processing fee (another $3 "hidden" charge). That was okay. Then they wanted to charge me half of the price. "But I lost the book!"

Eventually, they bargained me down to not paying at all. I feel terribly guilty about this and feel I haven't "learned my lesson." I'm sure I'm going to turn into a scoff-law and ne'er-do-well. I might even descend to "evil doer."

Also, the book won't be replaced! No one else will enjoy this Jasper Fforde foolishness! The shame! The shame of it all!

Secondhand PLA

I'll have a crocodile sandwich ... and make it snappy.

My supervisor described to us in a quick meeting Thursday morning a program she would like to do aimed at autistic children ... something she saw at PLA.
[We are not a large or rich library system, so only a few are able to go to the big conferences. We have been told that if we don't share the information we get, we won't be allowed to go to another, so when I get back from classes, etc. to which only I was privy, I write it up and post it for everyone. It's up to them to read it or not. That said, the write-up is not just for the director to prove you went to the programs. Ahem.]

Anyway, one tiny idea mentioned at this quick meeting stuck in my head, and most fortuitously. My supervisor also decided that she wasn't up to doing the toddler storytime that day ... that would happen in about an hour. She asked if I would just use whatever I had done the day before with the preschoolers.
Panic ensued. But then that little idea she mentioned earlier popped back up to save me.

At these autistic child-oriented programs, they gave the children something to hold in their hands that was relevant to the storytime. I had been doing crocodile stories, so I scrabbled around in the supply cabinet for all the green foam sheets I could find. We have a small alligator/crocodile die and I could get six of them off of a sheet of foam.

As the kids came in, I handed the moms (mostly - one might be a gran') the sheet of songs and poems and each child got a die-cut green foam crocodile. I wasn't sure what they would do with it. Many of them were babies and might try to eat it. From what I could tell, most of them just held it.

Later, one of the moms said that the kids were much quieter because of holding the crocodiles. Really? That was quieter? Must be chaos normally!

I reported this success to my supervisor. She might want to try that herself.

Book Review

Because Goodreads doesn't list it:

Cheepy Chick's Holiday by ... someone at Brimax Books. Amazon lists the author as Lucy Kincaid but our catalog says June Woodman.

There's something about this that makes me read it as "Creepy" Chick's Holiday. And every time I see "Cheepy" it comes across as "Creepy." This is a large-print children's book aimed at early readers, ages 4 to 7 years. While the print is very large, it is also very close together, causing even someone with my middle-aged eyes to hold it at a distance.
Creepy - sorry, Cheepy Chick is a small business owner who is worn to a frazzle by annoying customers who come to her shop and can't make up their tiny minds. C...Cr...Cheepy Chick's shop is not ergonomically organized. She needs to climb a ladder to get to the sweets she sells in her shop. The sweets have the inviting names of "brown" and "pink" and "white." One is unable to tell even from the illustrations what these might be. They appear to be cookies/biscuits of some sort. Given the state of the bakery arts of today, they probably don't have any real flavor other than "brown" or "pink" or "white."
At the end of the day, Ch-Cr ... Cheepy Chick is so exhausted that she is willing to turn the running of the shop over to her friends, Polly Pig, Bob Hedgehog, and the appropriately but not that cleverly named "Little" Hamster so she can take some much-needed time off.
Away she goes on a skiing vacation where, after a few spills, she is taught to ski properly by Pat Penguin, the ski instructor. She send her friends a postcard. After she returns, business has fallen off so much that she has to remove the cobwebs from the shelves, which she seems happy to do.
The moral of this story is, to the best of my reckoning: Take a vacation.
Things I don't understand:

• Why ... the chick person keeps all her popular items on upper shelves when she clearly has nothing on the lower ones. 
• Why her sweets aren't more descriptive. 
• How the shop got so dirty/cobweb-riddled while she was away although her friends are clearly cleaning the place as she's leaving. How long was she gone?
• Why the author dropped the ball in developing a relationship between our heroine and, say, the ski instructor or the dog on the train. 
• How far away she has to travel to go from apple time and green grass where she lives (September?) to full-blown snow. Is this California where you can sell your sweets in the morning and then nip up to the mountains to go skiing in the afternoon?
• Does she spend the night somewhere? Did she go clubbing? Baby seal clubbing?
• As attuned to sweets as young children might be, wouldn't they need something more to go on than just color description? 

All in all, I was unimpressed with the plot and the characterization in this oeuvre. I am considering discarding it instead of replacing the spine label, which has come off.

Foolproofing

In my fantasies, I have tried to design an Absolutely Foolproof Summer Reading Sign Up Card. Futile, I know too well. One tries to make something as simple as possible to make it quick because there are times when many people are trying to sign up for summer reading all at once and it needs to move smoothly. Also, people are reluctant to have to write out too much information.

At the moment, the State Library just wants numbers - how many sign up and finish - but the software requires a username, password, first and last name. We like to keep track of which library signed them up and we try to put the names of the ones that finished in the newspaper, listing them by school. I personally am interested in how the summer reading program fares by grade levels.

Last year I was able to graph how the various schools did in signing up as well as completing the program. I already knew how they had finished out in years before. I had used that information to goad one school into doing better ... and they did! It is now interesting to see what schools have more children sign up, but they don't finish for whatever reason. Then you can try to puzzle out why that would be. 

I suppose I could just explain all of that to people and hand them a blank sheet of paper, but instead I set up a card for them to fill out with minimal effort and for me to transcribe to the program with the same minimal effort. Last year I put things in the wrong order on the card which confused me when time came for data entry.

So, how hard can this be? You'd be surprised how things can get confused.

Last year I let them circle the library and patrons circled their closest library. This year I did that work for them, by providing each branch with the branch name marked. They crossed it out and marked the branch they usually went to or was closest to them. This can be a nuisance because we do all the data entry at the main branch. If each branch did their own data entry (and I try not to overtax them because they are often there alone ... and I have trouble letting go of the responsibility), it wouldn't be an issue. I'm not sure why parents would drive to the main branch instead of their local one to sign up for summer reading. Perhaps they think they wouldn't be able to attend our programs if they didn't. Perhaps their kid has already read all the books at the branch.

They also seem to be unclear about what constitutes a "school." I know you tell your child that Sunshine Tot Sanctuary is their "school" - but it's not. It's a daycare. "School" starts at K-5 statewide. These are the kids that are at risk of losing skills during the summer. Some schools have K-4, so I added that in. But, for kids younger than that, they are Pre-School. Preschool has changed in definition since our state instituted universal kindergarten. I know there are divisions below that. There are infants, toddlers, as well as preschoolers. Instead of confusing that issue, I put them all under one heading. But it confused the issue anyway.

At the other end, well, our purview only goes as far as fifth grade. Anyone going to sixth grade can go to the programs and hang out in the Teen Center. However, some prefer to do our program and they put down 6th grade, which isn't a choice on my pulldown menu. I created an "other" category in the pulldown menu for those.

Now, after making a big deal out of how I want the grade the kid will be in in the fall, why would they put down the school they're currently in? Two of our branches are in a school district with a primary as well as an elementary school. So, if they try to tell me that the kid will be in third grade but is in the primary school - well, gah!

It makes me want to pull my hair out, even though I know the patron can't possibly know what's going on in my head. But I don't want the card to get all busy with text as in the example above. Besides, it looks sarcastic and condescending. So, my choices are: keep redesigning the card to be elegant but foolresistant or just give up on statistics. [Weighs them by flailing hands in the air.]

Gah.

Just Casing the Joint

Find the children's room!

I'm sure the architect thought that it would be easy to tell the children's room from the rest of the library from the enormous decals on the glass that separates the children's room from the rest of the downstairs. Well, take it from me, it doesn't work.

It seems as if every day someone wanders down into the children's room, having no idea where they are. "Oh, is this the children's room?" is the response to my "This is the children's room. May I help you?" The children's room is a clean, spacious area with interesting features that I'm always pointing out to the unwary who blunder into my arena. But it looks just the same as the rest of the library.

Today I've had two people who just wandered in and claimed they didn't need any help, walked around, and then walked out again. They both said they were "Just looking." All within about ten minutes of each other. Between interactions with people looking for books, I wonder about what they thought they were doing. What does "Just looking" mean?

• "I just wandered a bit too far and now I'm trying to save face by pretending I just want a look 'round."
• "I was looking for another part of the library, which doesn't seem to be down here, but I'm not going to ask you about it so I don't look stupid."
• "I was supposed to meet a friend here but I'm not sure where."
• "I'm scoping out fire exits in case of an emergency."
• "I'm scoping out possible 'drops' for hiding drugs/money/stolen articles/national secrets for someone else to pick up."
• "I'm the advance for a library terrorism ring trying to find out how many of us will be needed to keep the victims from escaping when we come in guns blazing. You sure have a lot of doors down here."

It doesn't pay to let the mind wander on a quiet (thus far) Sunday.

PTDHS

We used colored card stock for the sliders and very thin duct tape on the ends.

 

 

 

I am suffering from Post Tongue Depressor Harmonica Syndrome after today's Homeschooler's program. This was an easy craft to do, made needlessly complicated by adding live music played by my brother-in-law, Bear, on the library's Yamaha and all the rhythm instruments we use in storytime. Everyone was successful at making their harmonica - many danced, using the rhythm scarves and the streamers I had put out.
But I am exhausted.
It's barely 2 o'clock and I don't know how I made it this far. I can't even work up enough energy to complain about it. So, here's Bear playing something he played here today. I think.

The Crayon Connection

Hardly any kids came to our afterschool program this past week.  That's not so surprising as we just started them and it may take a while to catch on.  The ones who came, however, drew a bit with a pencil but could not be encouraged to color in with crayon.  I started thinking about this.  Maybe at a certain age they would prefer to work with markers, which deliver a more saturated color.  Then up in the forefront of my mind popped the image of coloring programs on the computer. No problems keeping within the lines, color even and vibrant - not to mention fast.  Kids might not be finding the same joy in drawing and coloring that we did because it's not living up to what they've seen can be done (not that they're actually doing it - actually "coloring") on a computer.  They're just clicking on a space.

True, it requires use of fine motor skills to use a mouse, as anyone like me who has had to learn to do this later in life knows, but I keep thinking they need to be using their hands more.  I have even been asked by a kid, full of energy otherwise, to cut something out for him because cutting was making his hand hurt.   Watching kids of school age who are unable to do simple tasks with pencils, scissors, and tape dispensers worries me.  This story kept edging its way into the mix.  This man lost his ability to read from a stroke, but was able to work around his loss by tracing the letters he was looking at with his finger and then later with his tongue on the roof of his mouth.  Yes, it was slower - but he had not lost that part of the skill.  There is a clear link between the motor skills used to write with the ability to decode the printed word inside the brain.  This was only reiterated to me when I read this blogpost.

Computers are an integral part of our present and future, but we are already past the point where mouse use is a vital skill in computers.  We are now using just our fingertips (those of us - not me yet - who have the phones and tablet computers that do this).  Computers can now obey commands we vocalize.  We are running right past Star Trek science in some categories - even the more recent Star Trek versions.  We don't need to teach skills that are already on their way out.  And if I can learn to use computers at my age (I started after age 30 when you actually needed a huge manual and classes to figure out how to print a letter), these kids don't need to be saturated with those skills. 

Kids will learn to read better if they can connect the movements of their hands with the shapes of the letters. They need to be coloring, which teaches them to control their hands (and used to be deeply satisfying), as a pre-literacy skill.  They need to be writing and drawing with a tool in their hands to learn letters and to learn creativity.  We aren't just killing literacy with computers, but we are killing creativity.

Now, I spend way too much time on computers and I, too, get cramping in my hand trying to write a letter to someone.  I have also seen a great deal of creativity online, but most of this from people who already possess the skills from decades of writing and coloring - people who are already artists.  They aren't creating textures this beautiful with a mouse:

Virtual gown and avatar skin with hand-painted textures.

Let the children use the computers - but for limited amounts of time.  [And, while you're at it, make me get away from mine.  I am only too aware that this is not going to be an easy task.]  Make sure they get access to lots of paper, crayons, scissors, and quiet time.  Maybe you can share that time doing some writing or drawing of your own.  Try it.  It's a skill worth cultivating.  It has more value than you'd think.

201.01.10 - Updated to give a better link. Video no longer available, but NPR story still there.

Because

I'm a nice person - why can't I sit in here at one of the tables way over there and use my computer, have a conversation, sit and read?

I'm sure you are a nice person and not a pedo or anything, but this is the Children's Room and it is for children and their caregivers. 

But there's no one here right now -

This is one small part of this library.  It takes up maybe one sixth of the public space.  The Teen Center is even smaller.  And all the rest of that belongs to adults.  Why don't you explore?

I've already walked all the way down here, you know.

And we are so proud of you.  Now show us how you can walk all the way back to the front (which you'll have to do to leave anyway), hop on the elevator, and walk down to the rotunda where there are tables and chairs and you can spread out.  Also, you won't be intimidating the children.  It is unwitting, I know, but just the presence of "strange" adults will frighten some children away from a certain area - such as those nice tables over by the windows where the manipulatives and crayons are.  And those couches by the puppet theatre?  Those are for parents to watch their children put on a puppet play or play at the duplo table. 

Most children are trained to be quiet around adults when they are doing adult things (not all, so I've noticed, but you get the idea).  If you are talking to a friend and aren't obviously a parent or grandparent with a child also playing, you are an impediment to play and, therefore, learning.  And even if they don't mind, won't their boisterous play interfere with your work or conversation?  If that is the case, I will ask you to leave rather than ask them to be quiet for your sake because this is their area.

By the way, the library is not a place to come and have a conversation.  If your main intent is to talk, either use one of the small conference rooms that are available on a first-come-first-serve basis ... or go somewhere else.  Yes, there are some ladies at the couches chatting away, but you know what?  They have children playing right there.  If they are letting the children get away with screaming bloody murder, I will have a separate chat with them.  The point is that they remembered to bring their children with them.  Next time why don't you?

[Now, the hard part is to put this in the tone of voice but reduce the verbiage to, "This is the Children's Room."  Practices Great Big Smile.]

Rules, Shmules

Maybe my problem is my background, although I can't say that was my sister's problem and she was ostensibly from the same family (even if our parents were the same people, considering the years between my sister and me, they were also different ... if you catch my drift).  We'll never know what her problem was. Mom said if my sister had been born later she would have been diagnosed with ADD.  My sister seemed to enjoy breaking rules just because they were there, if my memory of her college experience is anything to go on.  Why a smoking, drinking, swearing, dancing, card-playing person would go to a small Baptist college is a question for another day.

So, I go on and off my background being my problem.  It may only have been my fear of conflict (which I swear I remember going on between my parents and my sister as far back as my term in the womb) that caused me to make sure I was doing everything right when she was being yelled at.  While my parents were against the usual Ten Commandment type stuff, they certainly didn't pay much attention to the Volstead Act.  My dad and his friends from Mechanics Institute (now RIT) made something they called Plum Brandy from sugar, yeast, prunes and raisins or they "acquired" drums of grain alcohol and with the help of a hydrometer and some juniper juice made their own gin - for their own consumption ... and that of 50 to 100 of their closest friends.

My background is second generation American from a mixed background: my father's family was from northern Germany and my mother's from southern Germany (this gets a huge laugh among Germans for some reason).   My parents lectured work ethic ("Work makes life sweet," came down to us from the grandparents ... but perhaps they meant it made the rest of life sweet by comparison) but lived it as well.  My dad didn't know what a sick day was, unless it was the headaches he got on weekends from when he wasn't at work.  He had little patience for people who had excuses about why they were late, sick, their kids sick, etc.  Vacation was the last two weeks in July that the IBM plants shut down.  Even when my dad was no longer employed directly by IBM, he worked for vendors and kept the same schedule all his working life. 

My sister worked for our father and advised me to never follow suit.  Dad expected his own kids to work harder and apparently get paid less.  And then the other workers got annoyed with her because she made too many parts and might raise the expectations of the company as to how many parts could be assembled in an hour.  Harassment from fellow workers was nothing compared to what horrors (as I recall, the word "disappointed" featured largely in these) she would face at home.  I did not follow her advice, but by the time I was old enough to do factory work, Dad was managing a much smaller factory and I worked directly under him.  Because of that, people could see that I was ridden as hard if not harder than they were.  The floor supervisor had to argue with Dad to get me a raise - and that only worked the second summer. 

I, therefore, have little patience with people who can't get to work on time - a slightly watered-down version of my dad's.  If I have a fever, I stay home, regardless of how slight it is.  I will take time off for operations and recovery, and I will take a vacation any old time.  I like rules, though, rules give shape to life.  Perhaps in my sister's case rules were there to be reshaped into something more modern and free-form.  I can't ask her because she broke another rule by dying before our parents did. 

However, yesterday I was reading a response on Quora to a question about why airline boarding is such a nightmare and one responder mentioned how much more orderly Germans are about it because of their obsession with rules.  [Actually, I think I agree with the response about carry-on bags as the problem. Why anyone is in a hurry to sit in the cramped seating is beyond me.  It would be a mercy to wait until the last moment, but you never see anyone holding back until the plane is full to get on.]  If someone tells you you can't board until your section is announced, you don't queue up and get in everyone's way.  I tend to slavishly follow speed limits (a problem they don't have in Germany where they can work out their speedlust on the Autobahn - can you say Geschwindigkeitsbegrenzung?  Which is almost as much fun a word as Rrrrrreibungsbeiwert.) and other traffic laws.  I've read up on wave theory to better handle traffic situations (here's a big hint: remember that "rule" about leaving one car length per ten mph between you and the car in front? Big help!).  Now these things are second nature to me.  I don't gripe about speed limits and claim that "without rules people would behave in a reasonable manner" (after getting a speeding ticket for going 40 mph in a 25 mph zone).

If I were told there was a half hour limit on computer use time, by golly I'd make a point of sticking to it!  (You knew it would get to something really petty, didn't you?)  And if I had children I would teach them to do the same.  "You get a half an hour to play.  After that you have to pick out some books, listen to the books that come with CDs, put on a puppet show at the puppet theatre, play with the blocks, color, or just chill."  I see some parents who do that.  They may even suggest books be picked out first.   Then there are others who think no one actually waiting to get on the computers is an excuse to sit there all day.  It's my job to juggle with the leeway we grant.  But if you let people stay on forever occasionally despite the clear rule, they learn that the rule doesn't mean squatola-mcsteinhammer.  And this makes me frustrated enough to want to quit.  As long as you're not causing a nuisance, you can stay in the library for hours and hours - but I don't see why you should get the idea that not all rules apply to you.

It's situations like this that make me want to retire yesterday.  And wear dirndls.

Thus Shalt Thou Do

The Many and Sundry Commandments in Reference to Those, 

the Computers of the Children's Room

If thou owest five shekels or more, thou shalt not have access to the Computers of the Children's Room nor those of the Adult Computer Lab.
Thou shalt not bear false witness by showing the Librarian in the Children's Room the library card of someone else.
If thou art below the age of 12, thou shalt have thy parent with thee when thou art on the Computers of the Children's Room.
If thou art above the age of 12, thou shalt hie thyself to the Adult Computer Lab where the limit is 2 hours.
If thou art the age of 12, thou mightest possibly remain at the Computers of the Children's Room unaccompanied, but pusheth it thou not.
Regardless of thy age, thou shalt only remain on the Computers of the Children's Room for 30 minutes, even if there be no one else in waiting for it.
If thou art finishing a report for school thou mayest stay on the Computers of the Children's Room longer than 30 minutes, so makest sure thou art working on thy report and not desporting thyself on a videogame for 30 minutes be the limit.
If thou art a parent, thou mayest make use of the laptop computers for work or school and only for one hour.
Thou shalt not allow thy children to run wild in the library whilst thou peruseth the Book of Faces or ThouTube.
If thou art applying for a job, considereth that this may take more time than thou hadst planned on and hie thee to the Adult Computer Lab where the limit is 2 hours and leaveth thy children with a neighbor or thy mother or thy mother's mother.
Thou shalt not view material inappropriate for the Children's Room.  Thinkest thou about it.
Thou shalt not view Book of Faces, for it is an abomination, and if thou art under 13 years of age, thy Book of Faces account be against the website's Terms of Service and thou hast born false witness to obtain same.
Thou shalt not view videos on ThouTube, because it sucketh bandwidth something awful and ruineth the interwebs experience for all.
Thou shalt not allow a preschooler on a Computer of the Children's Room and wander off to find books nor stoppeth to chat with thy neighbor whom thou hast not seen in ages.  For the preschooler, contrary to what thou mightest imagine, doth not use technology intuitively and doth bang the keyboard and yanketh on the mousecord and peereth curiously at the little red light therein.  Also, the preschooler diggeth into his nose with his finger and then smeareth the mucus upon the monitor.
When thou art finished with the Computers of the Children's Room, thou shalt return thy station to good order and return the sign to the monitor, but thou shalt not turn off the monitor nor the CPU, which confuseth the next person.

Heck Hath No Fury ...

I am absolutely furious with 1. myself and 2. the state for (2) making me provide a copy of our marriage license and most recent tax returns and (1) forgetting to mail them.

Despite my initial reaction of being insulted, I redacted financial info, printed the documents off immediately and then completely forgot to send them.  So I get a reminder that if they aren't received, health insurance benefits will be terminated for my husband, which raises my blood pressure.  I threw things, I screamed, and it isn't enough.  It's never enough.  It's just a good thing I don't believe in firearms.

Of course, I also have some niggling doubt that this will save the state any money because as far as I know (and I could be wrong), it's the county and I who pay for the insurance for the family yet someone hired by the state has to be paid to scan, shred, and maintain these tens of thousands of records (someone, no doubt, who isn't getting a raise and has to do the job of several others who left).  Will I have to submit this every year just to reassure them we're still married and alive?

 Darn all the cheese-paring tea-partiers to heck!  

I realize that the economy is troubled and things are tight, but I don't remember the last time our employees had a cost of living raise and we don't earn a whole lot to begin with. Our pay has altered mostly by tax adjustments.  I imagine the state employees are going through the same thing: no raises, no new hires, so everyone is having to do more work for less - and then this rollicking insult trickles down to us.

It does not reassure me that some "freeloaders" are going to be eliminated from the insurance heap.  It tells me that people who need health insurance are going to be without it.  This is not kids going without popsicles or adults going without the latest plasma screen.  It's about people not having health care.

It's also about Trust.  And that's where the insult comes in.  Do I claim my cats as dependents?  Would I add someone to my health plan who wasn't my child or my husband?  Wouldn't my HR people notice?  This is a small outfit and people would notice if I did anything like that - if, in fact, I would ever be so inclined.   Well, you know what?  It's lack of trust like this that makes someone as scrupulously honest as I am want to diddle the system for all it's worth.  This has created bad feeling - and anyone can tell you that's no way to run an organization.

But it's just typical, isn't it?