Misadventures of the Monster Librarian

A patron walked into our Library Tuesday and announced, "there's a dead cat in your front yard. Just thought you should know." PrairieDawn and I walked out front, me wearing gloves and carrying a garbage bag, PrairieDawn with the shovel. We finally found the poor animal, laying seemingly asleep, under our front hedges. I thought I could be tough and just scoop the thing into a garbage bag and be done with it, but I started to cry, thinking of my own sweet cat probably asleep on my couch...These are the moments when I wish we had a maintenance man, or anyone else more capable than me, on staff. We went back inside and thought about who we could call. I was for calling the local vet, when PD suggested we call one of our patrons who's a vet in the next city over,  but who lives in Sticks. He wasn't able to come by, but sent someone else to retrieve the poor animal later that afternoon. I've been thinking about that exchange all week, our patron's kindne

A friend just asked for a list of multicultural reads for 6th graders, and since reading multicultural books is so important I thought I would share it here. Multicultural Reads for 6th Graders: The Watsons Go to Birmingham - 1963, Christopher Paul Curtis Esperanza Rising, Pam Munoz Ryan Brown Girl Dreaming, J. Woodson (LOVED this book) One Crazy Summer, Williams-Garcia Inside Out and Back Again, Lai The Cay, T. Taylor Ties That Bind, Ties That Break, Lensey Namioka Witch of Blackbird Pond, Speare Chains (Book #1, The Seeds of America Trilogy), Anderson Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry by Mildred D. Taylor Birchbark House, Erdich Starry River of the Sky, Lin Threads, Polonsky Dancing, Alma Flor Ada Tiger Boy, Perkins Ninth Ward, Rhodes Star in the Forest (story about illegal immigrants--timely), Resau Boys Without Names, Sheth How I Became a Ghost, Tingle