New Program Season!- Be a Junior Firefighter/ Dance Party/Fall Favorites

Our new children's programming season is underway at my library!

I bought a house in May and then went directly into Summer Reading Program. So my blog posts have been nonexistent for the last little (okay long) while. Anyhoo. We started off the programming season two weeks ago with Be a Junior Firefighter.

I only had one story for that storytime. The majority of it was taken up by our local firefighters giving a talk on fire safety, and allowing the toddlers and preschoolers to interact with a real fire truck! We read Fire Truck is Flashing by Mandy Archer. It gives a great run down on what happens for the firefighters when they go out on a call. It also has a diagram of the parts of a firetruck in the back.

This is our yearly opener to our programming season, and I always explain to the kids that, if the firetruck is out on a call, they may be delayed. That actually happened this year. I had planned a few ukulele songs to stall for time, but after the first 15 minutes, it got bad. I felt like the act opening for The Who, if Roger Daltry was a no-show. 

Thankfully, the firetruck did show up. The firefighters were awesome. The Who rocked the arena.

Last week we had our first Dance Party of the season. I stuck to more smooth melodies and play songs. I've been getting over a convention bug, and high cardio was not on the menu. Here was the playlist I cooked up. It's more Jim Gill than we've had in a while, but he gave us a concert recently. So it was a good tie-in

This week was Fall Favorites. It's all about the changing of the seasons, which due to climate change, has not happened in our neck of the woods yet, mores the pity. Still, it's a good primer for when the leaves do begin to fall. We read an old favorite; There was an Old Lady who Swallowed some Leaves by Lucille Colandro.

If you have not read this series, I highly recommend it! You can sing or just recite the words, and there is one for pretty much every holiday, including the first day of school (There was an Old Lady who Swallowed some Books). Very cute!

My new book pick for the day was Hocus Pocus, It's Fall! by Anne Sibley O'Brian. It has fantastic artwork, and flippable pages spurned on by magic words. It's very dramatic.

We also revisited the feltboard story I made late year out of Marty Kelley's Fall Is Not Easy. It's about a tree trying on different "outfits" of leaves to get ready for fall. When the leaves turn into a cheeseburger, I literally have kids ROFL; knees to chest, legs kicking in the air, the whole bit!

It's hilarious for them and for me! :)

We finished with fall leaf crowns. Basically, it is a band of paper with dollar store silk maple leaves attached. Simple, but fun to decorate. All in all, a satisfactory start to the season!

Homeschool Adventures

Every year in my library system, we write proposals for programming. These proposals are based on a need we see in the community as well as the library's 5 year Strategic Plan. The patrons at my branch have been asking for school-age programming for a few years, but until recently there had not been a good way to fit it in.

Enter the Homeschoolers. 

Our branch has a very large homeschool population, both of secular and religious oriented families. When K and I asked around for more info on what the interest was for school age programming, 4 out of 5 inquiries were by parents who were homeschooling their children.

So, we wrote a proposal and started a pilot. Homeschool Adventures! (Say it like you have the Theme from Indiana Jones in the background. Go ahead. Try it. I'll wait.)

Originally, we had the kids broken down by age. K would take the 6-8s and I would take the 9-12s. After the first session, we threw that out the window. Because, wouldn't you know it, the families like to keep everybody together. The kids socialize remarkably well across ages and even with the parents of other families. It really is a community.

What makes it fun for us as librarians is that we get to essentially do teaching units based not only on our expertise, but also the interests of the kids and the curriculum needs of the parents.

To date we have done the following programs:

• Constructables- The kids got to build whatever they wanted with marshmallows, gumdrops, straws and toothpicks.

• Card Making- K is a master card maker. She led them through the finer points of stamping and decorating holiday cards

• Snack Geography- We formed a voting game and map activity around snacks from different countries.
• Library Scavenger Hunt- We gave a tour and had the kids hunt down a list of items in the stacks.

• Storytelling- K demonstrated oral storytelling and then we did 2 Round Robin Stories. (with 20 kids)
• Simple Snacks- We made Friendship Soup and salad with ingredients contributed by the group.

We organize the programs to be completely interactive. Often we take whatever the kids component is and describe it on the large white board in our program room. This is done both for evaluative purposes (I take pictures to display for the higher ups come service plan season) and to show the kids that these programs belong to them. These are not programs that the library just puts on for them. It is literally their program.

We are getting a growing number of families to these programs. Often we have over 20 kids ranging from age from 4-13. We gear the Homeschool Adventures for 6-12 but do not bar younger or older siblings, and this seems to be agreeable to all involved.

Book Pick~ On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft by Stephen King

I don't often post reviews for adult titles, but I love this book! 

I have been a fan of Stephen King's fiction for years. So, in high school my parents gave me On Writing as a Christmas gift. I didn't get it. "But, I’m not a writer!" I thought. Now I realize that they knew me better than I knew myself. Recently I drafted a novel, and reread this book again.

King starts out with what he calls his CV, an autobiography that provides a rich background into his character and upbringing. You can see his evolution, with the help of his single mom and older brother into a voracious reader and tentative writer. He describes the trials and tribulations of perfecting his craft while working odd jobs to support a growing family. And then he gets down to the nitty gritty, practical tips on writing. King is both self-deprecating in his suggestions and critical of others. He doesn’t pull punches for anyone.

On Writing is currently helping me get through the long slog of revisions and "What was I thinking?" moments. It is a must have for writers and King fans alike, reminding us of the commandment to be honest in our writing. 

For instance he suggests: If you curse in real life, then don't have your characters substitute curse words, unless it is for a good reason. If your character is the type to yell "Sugar!" when hitting her thumb with a hammer, that is characterization in and of itself. 

Tidbits like these are invaluable to aid a writer in ego and anxiety checks alike. I loved On Writing so much, I bought a hardback for my shelf and the mass market paperback to highlight and keep in my handbag.

Book Pick: The Diviners

The Diviners follows a ragtag group of latent psychics in 1920s Manhattan. A killer is on the loose, committing brutal ritualistic murders that have the police and press scratching their heads. Can Evie O’Neill and the other Diviners stop this madman before time runs out?

Libba Bray’s historical fiction is incredibly well researched, allowing for a lush narrative, peopled with vibrant characters. Her 20s flapper, Evie O’Neill truly is “the berries.” She’ll keep you on your toes through the sinister Big Apple of The Diviners.