Dewey's Read-a-thon: Opening Questions

Dewey's Readathon. (Or is it Read-a-thon? Anyway.) It takes place every October and April and is all about the joy or reading.

Everytime I sign up to do it, I end up traveling. With two kids! (Why do l do this to myself?! Anyway.) Couple such distractions with the slow pace I read at means I am always Johnny-come-late to the surveys. This read-a-thon is already complete; it took place last Saturday, October 17th. Yet, here I am doing the introductory survey on Sunday night. This just goes to show that yes, I do commit to Dewey's Read-a-thon despite such daunting distractions! But only barely and by the seat of my pants.

1. What fine part of the world are you reading from today?

While on a road-trip, I've stopped in Lawrence, Kansas.

2. Which book in your stack are you most looking forward to?

Best to Laugh by Lorna Landvik

3. Which snack are you most looking forward to?

A caramel apple

4. Tell us a little something about yourself!

I'm a mother of two lovely but clingy little ones. And I always seem to be traveling every read-a-thon. I don't know how it quite happens or if it'll ever get easier.

5. If you participated in the last read-a-thon, what’s one thing you’ll do different today?

Bringing extra adults on this road-trip.

Replying to Bryce

As I tinker along on my Storytime University badges, I was lead inspired to revisit Bryce Don't Play to earn my "read and comment" badge. Lo-and-behold, Bryce has serendipitously posted this: 5 Simple Questions to Inspire Your Service

Here are my five replies...

1) Can you tell me a little bit about your summer reading program?  
We run three school-age groups, one day a week during summer. Parent count book titles and kids get a trinket for a half page list of titles and can choose a toy when the page is full. Every kids a book at registration and also when picking out a prize. We foist the books upon them!! During the last week, all participants names go into a random drawing for a wearable prize usually a t-shirt or a bag. We’d like to go prize-less or at least, get rid of the trinkets.

We just started trying to run stuff for teens in the summer, but we don’t have many teens yet. Pre-teens really. I suppose we should call it tween-programming, but I don’t think the tweens like to be called tweens. You know?

2) How/Why did you become a librarian? 
I am technically a library assistant, but have many years training and experience in event-planning and theater. Reading aloud / oral interpretation has been my forte since junior high. (Being a bookworm goes even further back.) Kids programming has become my niche at where I work now.

3) What is you favorite part about working at your library? 
First, the thrill of working at a library at all! Second, reading stories out loud. Third, planning and programming. (I’m especially anxious to start a LEGO club next right away next year! More in #5) The adrenaline rush of hosting story time is very satisfying as is the blissful calm that descends immediately after all the kids have left.

4) What are some challenges you face as a YS librarian at this library or in the Cooperative? Do you have any tips for me? 
Getting teens and parents to attend They come in the door to get items, but we haven’t figured out a way to get them to attend programs or stay for the ones they drop their kids (or siblings) off. On many days, our story time programs get treated like drop-off daycare. Without caretakers there, I feel like a birthday party entertainer just barely sneaking read-alouds in between the cake and the dancing. (Or wrestling or climbing if it's a really hard day.)

5) What is your favorite program you provide? Would you mind if I dropped in to see it sometime?  
I’m new to my library, but I was thrilled to start (or restart) kids story times on semi-monthly basis. Right now I’m jazzed to transition my monthly story times into a monthly LEGO club which I’m calling “Story Lab.” My director does want to keep programs at the library (as opposed to moving them to other venues, even across the street), and I want to keep the element of reading aloud.

With those two things in mind, I’m planning my Story Labs to be story (and snack) time in the first 15 minutes and then build / construction time for 30-40 minutes with 15 minutes of clean-up and presenting at the end. At the moment, I’m in the process of doing the marketing (lego donation drive) and shopping (hooray for a small maker-space grant). I can’t wait to debut it in January 2016! 

Finally, yes - drop in! If you want to road-trip to SW Minnesota to drop-in, you’re more than welcome to stay at our old farmhouse.

Round-up | Quotes and Poems

Review | Wicked Appetite

Wicked Appetite (Lizzy & Diesel #1)
by Janet Evanovich

I listened to the audio version, and I can't tell if I would've liked it more or less had I read the book. A couple of the character voices grated me. (No thank you, Glo and Carl.) But had I read this in print, I probably would've quit the book entirely.

The two biggest downfalls is that the plot was much too fluffy and the characters were so shallow. The problem of fluffy plot is due mainly to my tastes. I don't expect all novels have the same level of grit and detail, and even I need a fast-read for diversion once in a while. The problem of shallow characters is why this was not a FUN diversion for me. Turns out, the main characters have roots in Evanovich's Stephanie Plum series. It sounds like Lizzy is a blonde copy of Stephanie, and Diesel already appeared in the previous series with very little background revealed in this - his own - series. I think I would've been more satisfied with the Plum series. I not planning to continue the Wicked series. Back to Evanovich's original series I go!