Einstein and I don't really...celebrate...Valentine's day. Our first February 14th as a couple, we ate at McDonald's. I had a gift for him, but he had forgotten that it was V-day...so after that, we just sort of forgot about it as a holiday. He does enough sweet stuff other days...although last year, he did bring me breakfast in bed!!! (I love breakfast in bed. It is my favorite thing EVER!)
Today, however, I got the sweetest Valentine ever!
One of my storytime regulars presented me with a Valentine (and Hershey's Kisses, yum!). It was ADORABLE, especially since she also had one for each of our "regular" puppets. I nearly died from the cuteness. Now my assistant and I just have to remember to give her a thank you from the puppets during the next puppet show.
Showing posts with label kids. Show all posts
Showing posts with label kids. Show all posts
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
Sunday, January 25, 2009
A public library without internet
Yesterday was "my" Saturday to work (the staff rotates, I usually only have to do it once a month or so). I got to work, logged in, started doing work, and then I noticed:
No internet. Unfortunately, the problem was NOT at our end, and thus we had to wait on our provider to fix the issue.
They promised to have it fixed on by Monday afternoon.
That means that we were without internet the ENTIRE DAY. While some people do in fact visit the library to check out books, the vast majority of our patrons come for one reason and one reason only: to access the internet. Most Saturdays we have anywhere from a half an hour to an hour wait for the computers all day. Since our main draw was down, I settled in for a long, quiet day.
Oh, how wrong I was! We were ridiculously busy all day. And not just busy telling people "No, the internet is down. No, it won't be back up today" although I said that plenty. You see, while some of the people who would normally come in just for the computers turned around and left, the majority (or so it seemed) actually checked out books! And asked questions not related to computers!
I also noticed another telling fact: normally on Saturdays, I am hoarse by about 2:30. This is from yelling things like "No running in the library! We walk in the library! No, please don't spin that! That chair is meant for sitting! Gentle, please! Please don't throw books!" over and over and over and over over and over and over and over over and over and over and over over and over and over and over over and over and over and over over and over and over and over over and over and over and over.
You get the idea.
Yesterday, I didn't yell at a single child. Not once! Which is not to say that I didn't have kids running or tossing books; there were a few. But an interesting thing happened: their parents told them to stop. This doesn't normally happen because their parents are usually in the computer lab, looking at email/MySpace/whatever. Instead, they were with their kids, watching them, and, dare I say it, parenting.
Maybe I will try to convince my boss to get rid of the internet permanently...
JUST KIDDING. Not having internet sort of feels like having one of my limbs chopped off, and free internet access is a vital part of our service to the community. But still, not losing my voice was nice.
No internet. Unfortunately, the problem was NOT at our end, and thus we had to wait on our provider to fix the issue.
They promised to have it fixed on by Monday afternoon.
That means that we were without internet the ENTIRE DAY. While some people do in fact visit the library to check out books, the vast majority of our patrons come for one reason and one reason only: to access the internet. Most Saturdays we have anywhere from a half an hour to an hour wait for the computers all day. Since our main draw was down, I settled in for a long, quiet day.
Oh, how wrong I was! We were ridiculously busy all day. And not just busy telling people "No, the internet is down. No, it won't be back up today" although I said that plenty. You see, while some of the people who would normally come in just for the computers turned around and left, the majority (or so it seemed) actually checked out books! And asked questions not related to computers!
I also noticed another telling fact: normally on Saturdays, I am hoarse by about 2:30. This is from yelling things like "No running in the library! We walk in the library! No, please don't spin that! That chair is meant for sitting! Gentle, please! Please don't throw books!" over and over and over and over over and over and over and over over and over and over and over over and over and over and over over and over and over and over over and over and over and over over and over and over and over.
You get the idea.
Yesterday, I didn't yell at a single child. Not once! Which is not to say that I didn't have kids running or tossing books; there were a few. But an interesting thing happened: their parents told them to stop. This doesn't normally happen because their parents are usually in the computer lab, looking at email/MySpace/whatever. Instead, they were with their kids, watching them, and, dare I say it, parenting.
Maybe I will try to convince my boss to get rid of the internet permanently...
JUST KIDDING. Not having internet sort of feels like having one of my limbs chopped off, and free internet access is a vital part of our service to the community. But still, not losing my voice was nice.
Sunday, November 2, 2008
Best Patron Interaction EVER
Earlier this week an incredibly cute child came into the library looking for Curious George books. I am a huge fan of C. George; seriously, my love knows no bounds. So I was happy to show this little guy (four years old, I'm guessing) where "George" hangs out in the library.
He was ecstatic. He couldn't believe how many Curious George books we had. His dad patiently helped him select six of them, which he then walked over to the youth desk (one book at a time) to show me. I grabbed some of the Curious George stickers I had in my office to give to him; he gave three to his dad for safekeeping and carefully applied the fourth one to his shirt. Then he turned to me, and with true devotion on his face, said:
"You turned my shirt into a Curious George shirt. Thank you!"
Then, as they walked out the door, I overheard this conversation:
Dad: These librarians sure are nice, aren't they?
Little Boy: Yeah!
Dad: Do you like the library?
Little Boy: OH YES!
And that, my friends, is why I love my job.
He was ecstatic. He couldn't believe how many Curious George books we had. His dad patiently helped him select six of them, which he then walked over to the youth desk (one book at a time) to show me. I grabbed some of the Curious George stickers I had in my office to give to him; he gave three to his dad for safekeeping and carefully applied the fourth one to his shirt. Then he turned to me, and with true devotion on his face, said:
"You turned my shirt into a Curious George shirt. Thank you!"
Then, as they walked out the door, I overheard this conversation:
Dad: These librarians sure are nice, aren't they?
Little Boy: Yeah!
Dad: Do you like the library?
Little Boy: OH YES!
And that, my friends, is why I love my job.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)