Misadventures of the Monster Librarian

Day #2 of Summer Reading and I am so thankful that I get to sleep in and close the Library tomorrow. Today looked like this: STEM (Science, Tech, Engineering, Math) Tuesday, K-5th grades: *Working in teams of 5-6, the kids had 10 minutes to build structures with 50 toothpicks and 100 mini marshmallows that would withstand an earthquake; earthquake simulated by placing structures in an aluminum foil pan full of jello and me shaking the bejeezus out of them. I was surprised how creatively the kids built the structures; we talked about what strengthens structures and what kind of buildings would handle the shock an earthquake better than others. Lots of laughter and lots of fun! Vision Screenings STEM (Science, Tech, Engineering, Math) Tuesday, 6th-12th grades: *Tweens/teens made compost bottles--creating the beginnings of a compost pile in 2 liter pop bottles; discussed composting process. Family Storytime : Theme was growth/plants; books: Compost Stew Mary McKenna Siddals, The...

We have 3 Book Groups at Sticks Library; I run the Adult Book Group once/month, Prairie Dawn runs the Teen and Tween Book Groups. I choose the books for our Adult Book Groups, and assist Prairie Dawn in choosing the books for the Teens and Tweens--she's never been a Youth Services Librarian and up until working at Sticks hasn't stayed current on books for those ages, thus my helping. I think we do a pretty good job picking a selection for all three groups, that includes new/popular books, while also working in some classics, and for Teens and Tweens some award winners. I am pleased as punch to mention that our Adult Book Group does one Graphic Novel/year, and starting this year we also added one Young Adult book/year. For the adults I tried to include a few non-fiction titles as well, as that's something I know a few book club members enjoy, myself included. I was doing a good job until December. I hate seasonal books. HATE. I feel like the quality is oft compromised fo...