Boots on the ground

No reading for me today.

It is Buy One, Get One Free bookfair time at the local elementary library I will be at this week. The library does not make any money with this fair; they just want to get books into kids' hands for the summer. As I walked in this a.m. I could see the place was packed with parents and children waiting in line to check out. They had two cashiers but the lines were long.

There is always lots of tension with before school selling. Kids need to get to class and parents are on their way to work. I ran over to one cashier and began bagging and pre-counting money to help speed up the line.*

At book fairs you have different kinds of money. There is "parent money" which is in the form of check or credit card and accompanied by adults in charge. You answer the question, "Who should I make this out to?" so many times that you begin to think of inking the answer on your forehead.

Then there is the "responsible child" money. This is the cash machine denomination that the young one must parcel out responsibly. Sometimes an older sibling also oversees a younger sibling's purchases with "responsible child" money.

My favorite money is "kid money" because it comes from under the bed, from the piggy bank, or from down in the sofa cushions. This is wadded-up, folded-up, scrunched-up and twisted-up currency in bills, quarters, dimes and pennies. It comes through the door in ziplock bags or from inside their shoes.

You haven't lived until you've watched a child shake money out of the toe of their Nikes which they then hand you to count. Damp and fragile dollar bills must be unrolled with the same caution scholars use to examine the Dead Sea Scrolls, all the while you are reminding yourself, "don't scratch your nose!" because now, suddenly, every germ transferring point of your face is beginning to twitch.

Me: "Do you know how much you have?"
Kiddo: "No!"
Me: Well, of course not. "Step over here so we can count it."
Kiddo (shaking his other still shod foot) : "Wait, I've got to check my other shoe."
Me: "Alas, you do not have enough money for the space-telescope-Geiger-counter-decoder-ring-airplane-launcher but you do have enough to buy this book and then you get one free!
Cool huh?"

Finally, the tardy bell rang, parents completed their purchases and everyone collapsed for a few minutes until the first class of the day arrived. Teachers and students came through all day. Their happy smiles and gleeful wanderings confirmed my belief that our national pastime is not sports, politics or watching TV. We love shopping more than anything.

Over lunch I visited with the cashier. We were talking about the books and which ones needed to be reordered. I was impressed with her knowledge and told her so.

She gave me a sort of dismayed look and said, "Since I've been doing this job, I find that the ONLY books I want to read are THESE books! (waving in the general direction of the display shelves) I hardly read regular books anymore, THESE are just so GOOD!"

Sister, join the club.


*Rules for Book Fairs 101:
Rule #3 -- Always have two people at each cash register for "event" selling

Librarian-ing

I've been subbing at an elementary school this week. I've had "fun" cataloging "kits" with big books, and assorted storytelling items for each book. Basically had to decide, do I do a separate entry for each item or list them all on one line with commas. Example: small toy moose to accompany If You Give a Moose a Muffin. I suppose I should have measured the moose and entered it in a 300 tag a: 1 moose b: plastic c: 10 x 15 cm. and then measured and identified all the other small doo-dads that were with the book with individual 300 tags. I didn't. I just listed them all on the 300 a line, separated by commas and measured the bag they were in for c. Time was short and I wanted to finish all of them for the librarian.

That does not mean a thing to you if you do not "enjoy" MARC records. Over the 3 days I was there I cataloged or cleaned up records for 189 items. Not too shabby.

I also enjoyed doing bird research with first graders in the afternoon. The librarian had arranged for two wonderful 4th graders to come as "helpers." We had some very nice easy nonfiction (I think they were Bridgestone) books about birds for our resources.

One table had the parrot book, one had the ostrich etc. The kids listened to or read the book and then filled out a little booklet with an interesting fact, what the bird eats, what the bird looks like etc. On the back there was a place to cite the book as a resource.

It was fun to help them begin thinking about research. The most fun was after the class left and the fourth graders looked at me in exasperation and said, "Those kids sure get off track a lot!" They were amazed that recording the fact that a heron eats crabs could lead to a conversation about Red Lobster. They were sputtering.

I just cracked up. I suggested their own teacher must feel this way too when the kids go "off task."

They came back to help the next day though and both of them asked me if they could have extra booklets so they could show the kids what to do. "We are going to do it along with them," they said.

I think they are natural teachers!

Next TLA report will be on Scott Westerfeld and Justine Larbalestier.

Boots on the ground (or in the air)

I spent the week subbing at two libraries. Monday through Wednesday I was at a high school librarian helping seniors with their research papers on "social issues." Tuesday morning skies were dreary and full of rain. As I walked across the teacher parking lot towards the building, I reminded myself to watch my footing on the rain slick sidewalks and pavement. I successfully negotiated the puddles and closed my umbrella as I reached the shelter of the school's entrance. As I took my first step onto the large rubber door mat to walk through the door, my left foot slipped away from me as if I had stepped onto a sheet of ice. Crash! There were ONLY hundreds of students and substitutes pouring through the opening at the time. General alarm and exclamations sounded around me and I could only think, "Oh God, have I crushed someone?" Then one boy reached down and grabbed my arm and the next thing I knew I was vertical again. Gadzooks, high school guys are strong. I think I was actually airborne for a few seconds. Amazingly, no harm done except to my dignity.

Thursday-Friday I was at my old library. The kids in 3rd grade and up still remember me, or I should say, remember Dragon. They all ask about him. He was with me and was very pleased to see his old friends. Sadly, his manners have not improved and their happiness to see him only reinforced his cheeky and obnoxious behavior.

The lesson for 5th grade was Bluebonnet Book Jeopardy which was great fun. Each table was a team and each team took turns picking a category, "Settings for $20, Alex" or "Events for $50." Sometimes they knew the answer right away, sometimes there was much pondering and guessing. With 20 books on the list, it is a challenge for the kids to read the minimum 5 required in order to vote, much less all 20.

Then we hit this question, "Three kids set out to restore this missing item that belongs to Zeus in this book." Twenty-four hands shot into the air before I even finished reading the question and twenty-four kids shot to their feet making that "Ooo...ooo...ooo" sound that indicated they knew the answer. I think two chairs fell over as their occupants rocketed upwards. Table 3 got the answer right away, "Zeus's lightning bolt in The Lightning Thief!" I was so moved to see and hear their passion for this book.

Later as the class checked out books, one of the boys told me that his parents had driven him all the way to Austin, Texas to see Rockstar Rick Riordan when he was signing at Book People some months back. "I got both books and he signed them!" he told me. I told him that I get advance copies of books to review sometimes and I had received a preview copy of The Titan's Curse and it was a fantastic action packed thrill ride. At that moment, I realized 48 eyes had just zeroed in on me and 24 voices said, "You have Book 3?" I think the mob was starting to move in my direction when, just in time, their teacher yelled, "Time to line up and go back to class."

I'm telling you, being a librarian can be dangerous.