If we didn't have libraries, many people thirsty for knowledge would dehydrate.
~Megan Jo Tetrick, age 12, Daleville, IN
Libraries: The medicine chest of the soul.
~Library at Thebes, inscription over the door
Happy National Library Week! Yesterday, in celebration of libraries worldwide, Meghan Kelly and I baked, frosted and distributed cake on the first floor of the library. It was a pretty low-key celebration, but hey, who doesn’t love free cake? Plus, we had students volunteer to dress up as literary characters to be available for pictures. Not only could you eat cake, but you could get a pic with Rowling’s Voldemort, Carroll’s’ Alice, or Fitzgerald’s’ Daisy and Gatsby (to name a few).
It has been a while since my last blog post, but I’ve been slowly but surely getting things done. The video is still a work in progress; it’s taking a long time and my editing skills leave much to be desired, yet I am enjoying the process and I hope that the end result will be successful.
I finished the evaluation of the children’s collection with Meggan. We compiled a write-up outlining our results and suggestions for the future of children’s collection, and sent it to the education department. And we have already gotten some positive feedback from the education department! One of the main goals of this evaluation was to see how the children’s collection could become more diverse. As a result, I believe the plan now is to receive books that win the Pura Belpré award through automatic acquisition—this award is annually given to the latino/latina writer who best portrays and celebrates the Latino culture in a work for children.
Working at the desk has been good—though I do get easily flustered when I am asked a more involved question on the spot. Sometimes I worry that I am wasting their time because I might not know the right place to look right away. But, I try to remind myself to stay cool and think logically, and if the question is really tough and super-involved I get the student’s e-mail and get back to him or her. Overall though, I think I have gotten a lot better at answering questions; I just still have a long way to go J
