Wednesday, February 23, 2011

Jazzmatazz!!!

Happy Wednesday, y'all!!!! I was super excited this morning, because I picked out some great Jazz books for story time today!!! Really, I just wanted to get the kids up and moving and dancing around!!!

Opening Song: Shake My Sillies Out - Raffi

Book: This Jazz Man by Karen Ehrhardt


Song: Stomp, Stomp by Lewis Franco & The Missing Cats - from Putumaya Kids Jazz Playground (I passed out egg shakers, and the kids all played and danced along!)


Book: Jazzmatazz! by Stephanie Calmenson


Song: Little Lamb Jam by Oran Etkin with Charenee Wade - from Putumaya Kids Jazz Playground (this was THE BEST little jazz version of Mary Had a Little Lamb - SUPER AWESOME!)

Book: Jazz Baby by Lisa Wheeler


Craft: Musical Shakers from Kaboose


Wednesday, February 16, 2011

African American Author Spotlight

Since February is African American History Month, I decided to spotlight an African American author in my story time!! I have read Kevin Lewis' books in story time before, and they always go over well, so I thought he should be my spotlight!

Opening Song: Shake My Sillies Out - Raffi

Book: My Truck is Stuck! by Kevin Lewis


Song: Twinkle Twinkle, Little Star

Book: The Lot at the End of My Block by Kevin Lewis


Song: Alphabet Song

Book: Tugga-Tugga Tugboat by Kevin Lewis


Book: Chugga Chugga Choo Choo by Kevin Lewis (I usually only do three, but the kids practically begged me to do another one, and I just couldn't say no!!)


Craft: Hand Print Wreaths




Hip Hip Hoooooooray!!!! It's Wednesday, so it's time for FMRNS!!!! This evening, we are planning on watching Swiss Family Robinson, a Disney classic from 1960, starring John Mills and Dorothy McGuire. Far cry from Black Swan, don't you think??

Tuesday, February 15, 2011

Boy Scouts and Spiders!

I was super excited to receive a call from a group of Boy Scouts who wanted to come in and have a story time/tour of the library!! It's been a long time since I did a school age story time, so while it was exciting, I was also a little nervous. And, I must be honest, I got pretty much *all* of my ideas for this story time from this post from the FABULOUS Storytimeland blog. (Thanks Sunny @ the Library!!!)

Book: I Know an Old Teacher by Anne Bowen
Ok, so I realize that this book only has one tiny little snippet about a spider in it, but still - the boys LOVED it!!! I mean, come on, a teacher swallowing all the class pets?! AWESOME!!


Trivia: I pulled out some interesting trivia facts from books like Do All Spiders Spin Webs? This was also a huge hit!!



Book: Aaaarrgghh! Spider! by Lydia Monks
Also a huge hit!! I told the boys this was the only time they could be loud in the library, and that they had to yell "Aaaarrgghh! Spider!" every time it came up in the book.


Show and Tell: I showed them a picture of the Hawaiian Happy-Faced Spider, and told them it was my favorite spider.



Craft: Hand Print Spiders from Activity Village

I also told them a little about how to find books in the library, and gave them bookmarks with the Dewey Decimal System on them. They had a great time, and I am looking forward to them coming back!!

Monday, February 14, 2011

Valentine's Day for the toddlers

I am super excited to announce that my Toddler Story Time is really starting to pick up!!! I had a nice group of kids - and a good mix of regulars and newbies!! YAY Story Time!!!!

Opening Song: If You're Happy and You Know It from Favorite Children's Songs CD.


Book: Mouse's First Valentine by Lauren Thompson


Song: Blow a kiss (to the tune of "Clementine")
Blow a kiss, blow a kiss,
blow a kiss, my Valentine,
Blow a kiss, blow a kiss,
blow a kiss, my Valentine

Repeat with
Send a hug (hug self)
Dream of me (lay head on hands as if sleeping)
Be my friend (hold hands with another)

Book: Be Mine, Be Mine Sweet Valentine by Sarah Weeks


Song: One red, two red, three red Valentines

Book: Sweet Hearts by Jan Carr (they were doing so great, so I thought I could squeeze in another story. Next time, I will either skip it, or choose a shorter one)


Interactive Playtime

Oh, and then I sweetened them up with cookies before I sent them home!!

Sunday, February 13, 2011

Valentine's Day Par-tay!!!

On Saturday, I decided to throw my library kids a Valentine's Day party! I decorated our story room with some pretty red and white streamers to get everyone in the mood!!

Book: One Zillion Valentines by Frank Modell


Game: Heart Bingo from Kaboose


Craft: Valentine's Day Hat from Kaboose


Craft: Handmade Valentines from Kaboose


I also served some strawberry banana punch (it had to be pink!!!) and some heart shaped cookies that I picked up at my local grocery store. Good times had by all!!

Thursday, February 10, 2011

Love is in the air

Since Valentine's Day is on Monday, I decided to have...what else? Valentine's Day stories!!! I, unfortunately, had to go to a required all day class, so I wasn't able to actually be there for story time. Luckily, I have a fabulous manager, and she was story time's special guest hostess this week!!

Book: If You'll Be My Valentine - Cynthia Rylant


Song: One Red, Two Red, Three Red Valentines (to the tune of One Little, Two Little, Three Little Indians). Found at Preschooleducation.com - Valentine's Day songs.

Book: Mouse's First Valentine - Lauren Thompson


Rhyme: Five Little Valentines Found at Preschooleducation.com - Valentine's Day songs.
Five little valentines waiting in the store
Somebody bought one, and then there were four.

Four little valentines for you and me
Somebody bought one, and then there were three.

Three little valentines wondering what to do
Somebody bought one, and then there were two.

Two little valentines thinking up some fun
Somebody bought one, and then there was one.

One little valentine said, "Buy me and run!"
Somebody did that, and then there were none!

Book: Be Mine, Be Mine Sweet Valentine - Sarah Weeks


Craft: Heart Wreaths from allcrafts.net


Well, usually on Wednesday, A and I have FMRNS. Unfortunately it snowed a bunch last night, and I wasn't too excited about venturing out in it. So, FMRNS has been postponed to Saturday night. But, it's going to be a FMRNS Double Feature!!!! WHOOOOT!!! It's been a while since we had one of those!!

My friend A went to see Black Swan (with Natalie Portman and Mila Kunis) in the theaters and LOVED it. He totally decided that it was "listworthy" when he saw it a second time. He told me that he is more than happy to see it in the theater again, and it is to be our next installment of FMRNS!! After we get out of the movie, we're headed to A's place to watch 88 Minutes, a thriller from 2007 starring Al Pacino and Alicia Witt. I'm SO excited for Saturday night!!!!

Tuesday, February 8, 2011

One of those days

Every so often, you just have one of those days. Every patron who walks in the door is super needy, the kids are extra rambunctious, the wireless is acting up. Oh, and it's cold...and you forgot your sweater.

Wait, that's me. But it is cold, and I did forget my sweater...twice.

*sigh*

Anyway, today was just one of those days. Allow me to tell you a couple of stories.

Our first story comes by way of two young ladies (one of whom had some major eye make-up going on. Like, pink and white vertical stripes with glitter eye make-up. No, I'm not kidding) who were using the computer to print off a coupon. The coupon came with a map of some sort (gotta be honest, I wasn't really paying attention), but they didn't want the map, just the coupon. They sent the coupon to the printer, only to be told that it was going to be 2 pages, thus 30 cents.

Pink Eye: So, I called and they said it would be 15 cents.
Real Librarian: Well, it's 15 cents a page, and this is saying it's 2 pages.
PE: But they said it was only going to be 15 cents on the phone.
RL: Yes, 15 cents a page. There's no way we would be able to tell you how many pages your document was to give you a total price.

For some reason, it was my fault, because they had only brought 15 cents. Luckily, they scrounged their car for another 15 cents, and tragedy was avoided. I hope it was a good coupon!


A woman who used to work with my library system came in to use the wireless. She was having trouble with the site she was trying to access, and wanted to use our public computers to see if it was our wireless or the site she was trying to get on. Since we are a small branch, we don't have very many public computers. She was very upset that a computer sat open and she couldn't get a reservation for over an hour. She then complained when another patron hopped on the open computer and started his reservation.

I guess the reason why I find this to be annoying is because she used to work for the library system. She used to work in a small branch herself. She used to explain the reservation system to patrons multiple times EVERY DAY. Seriously, you're going to get all up in my face about it?! HA! Well, honey, nothing has changed, and there is still nothing I can do about it.


We have a regular patron who comes in with his kids. Like 5 of them. They all come in to use our computers. The kids are usually well behaved, but the dad has not grasped the concept of "library voice," especially in our tiny branch. This dad is also a little smelly and loves to talk. I desperately try to avoid him, but alas, he has discovered me.

Today, he was telling me about how he fell on hard times, how he lives in a trailer park, how he has 5 kids with him today. Then his oldest (maybe? the oldest one of the kids he had with him, anyway), came up to talk to him, and I don't know how it happened, but soon the oldest one is telling me how he doesn't want to date because it's too complicated. Um...ok...

Well, I wish that were the end of that story, but unfortunately... This guy was leaning over the computer his son was on, and we got a nice healthy viewing of butt crack. Seriously, PULL UP YOUR DAMN PANTS!!!


And I have one final note for y'all. I AM NOT A TAX PROFESSIONAL. Seriously. I don't think it's a good idea for you to be asking me what forms you need to file your taxes. I'm a librarian, I didn't study law. I can barely do my own taxes, I should definitely not be doing yours.

Oh, and this prior post about Tax Season is still relevant.


Aaaaaaahhhhhhhhh!!! Thanks for letting me get that out!! I have to say, 99.9% of the time, I am totally in the "I LOVE my job" camp, but every once in a while, the crazy adds up!!

Monday, February 7, 2011

Chugga Monday

I am super excited to say that my Toddler Story Time is starting to pick up more and more!!! It is still a pretty small group, but I'm seeing a couple of regulars come in!!! How exciting!!!!!

Today's story time was all about Trains! There are so many cute picture books about trains, and I found a couple good ones that were perfect for my toddlers!!

Opening Song: If You're Happy and You Know It from Favorite Children's Songs CD.


Book: Chugga-Chugga Choo-Choo by Kevin Lewis


Song: I've Been Working on the Railroad from 101 Toddler Favorites.


Book: I Love Trains by Philemon Sturges


Rhyme: Hickory Dickory Dock

Rhyme: Itsy Bitsy Spider

Interactive Playtime

Wednesday, February 2, 2011

Penguins!!

What a FABULOUS story time!!! I had quite a few more kids than usual, so I hope this means it's picking up!!! Even though it was in the 60's, it's back to being chilly, so I decided to do some stories about Penguins!! These stories were a BIG hit!!!

Opening Song: Shake My Sillies Out - Raffi

Book: Flip and Flop by Dawn Apperley


Rhyme: 6 Little Penguins (from Preschool Education) This was great because even though the kids didn't know the rhyme itself, they were able to "help" me by telling me how many penguins were left!

Six little penguins off an iceberg did dive,
One bumped his beak, then there were five

Five little penguins swam the ocean floor,
One saw a whale, then there were four

Four little penguins spun around, wheeeee!
One spun off, then there were three

Three little penguins with nothing to do,
One went fishing, then there were two

Two little penguins having lots of fun,
One fell off, then there was one

One little penguin when the day was done,
Went home to sleep, then there were none.

Book: Penguin by Polly Dunbar
This one was VERY popular! They loved it!!


Nursery Rhyme: Hey Diddle, Diddle!
So, this had nothing to do with penguins, but I always like to incorporate a Nursery Rhyme. I think they are important!

Pretend: Pretend to be penguins! We put our feet together, stuck out our wings and waddled around! We also dove in and went swimming and fishing. They LOVED this!!

Book: I Like It When by Mary Murphy


Craft: Circle Penguins (from DLTK-Kids)


I'm also very excited that it's FMRNS!!!! Last week, we watched Persepolis (wow!). This week, we are watching a heavy drama from 1993 called And the Band Played On, with Matthew Modine and Alan Alda. We also get to watch more of the auditions from American Idol!!!! YAY!!!! I love Wednesdays!!!