Misadventures of the Monster Librarian

I am always in pursuit of cool sensory things for the Baby storytime group which I work with, for two reasons: 1. It is really hard to do cool things with babies...everything is a choking or poisoning hazard. 2. I feel because of reason #1, this group gets overlooked a little in the Library world. So, I decided to dedicate some time to come up with cutesie things I could do/use with the babies. I came up with two ideas. The first is not a new idea, it is something I actually learned about a million years ago when I was a daycare/preschool teacher. When I worked with infants we used to make these cool water shakers, which the babies always loved and which kept their attention. These were also fun for the infants learning to roll over and crawl. They would bat the bottles around and try to chase them. These shaker bottles are super simple to make; the instructions are as follows: Just take any empty water bottle, wash it out and rip off the labels. (If you are having a problem getting th...

For those of you, who like me, like to know what people are reading/what people's favorites books are! I found an article called, "Barack Obama's Favorite Books." Thought I would share some of it: “The often repeated claim that Barack Obama will be America’s most bookish president is probably a little harsh on the 43 past residents of the White House. Recently Karl Rove, George Bush’s Deputy Chief of Staff from 2004 until 2007, revealed his boss read 95 books in 2006 and another 51 in 2007 but no-one is praising Mr Bush’s devotion to the written word. Still, Barack Obama is clearly an avid reader and literature has massively influenced his politics. He talks about books at the drop of a hat, is frequently seen with a book in his hand and, of course, has penned two worldwide bestsellers himself. He has won Grammys for the audio versions of both his books – Dreams From My Father and The Audacity of Hope . He even used book tour appearances designed to promote The Audac...

HOORAY! PRESIDENT OBAMA: "My fellow citizens: I stand here today humbled by the task before us, grateful for the trust you have bestowed, mindful of the sacrifices borne by our ancestors. I thank President Bush for his service to our nation, as well as the generosity and cooperation he has shown throughout this transition. Forty-four Americans have now taken the presidential oath. The words have been spoken during rising tides of prosperity and the still waters of peace. Yet, every so often the oath is taken amidst gathering clouds and raging storms. At these moments, America has carried on not simply because of the skill or vision of those in high office, but because we the people have remained faithful to the ideals of our forebears, and true to our founding documents. So it has been. So it must be with this generation of Americans. That we are in the midst of crisis is now well understood. Our nation is at war, against a far-reaching network of violence and hatred. Our econom...

I am sick. Well, on the mend. The fever of Tuesday and Wednesday is gone, but the cough is persistent. I am thankful that I don't have a sore throat, as nothing vexes me more when I am sick than a sore throat, but this cough is giving me a headache. It is one of those really hard coughs that makes your whole body just ache. Ugh. This morning as I was leaving for work my car got stuck in a rut full of snow at the end of my driveway and there is decided to stay: half in my driveway, half in the street. People drove by and stared, probably marveling at my feat. I imagined neighbors peeking out their windows and saying, "Ehh?" I had to have my car pulled out by a towing company; the same company who came and pulled me out when I slid off my driveway about a month ago. The same driver in fact who looked at me and said, "I've been here before, not too long ago, haven't I?" Yep, one of those days. I had Baby Storytime this morning and I showed up just...

It is hard to think of what I want to say after posting nothing of my own substance as of late. With the holidays over and programs at the Library back in full swing, I feel like my week spent out East in Massachusetts--at the Farm I used to work out--was eons ago. Best friend K and I were set to leave for our roadtrip the Sunday after Christmas...which we did. However, we decided to leave at 1:30 a.m. instead of 5am, to be adventurers, in "true roadtrip fashion," and really because we had gone out with our friends that night and neither one of us were the least bit tired...So it began. A journey. A roadtrip. A homecoming (for me). When my Dad died just over a year ago, we spent the next 6 months cleaning out our family home that we had lived in for over 20 years. My Mom moved out. The house was sold. And in all that I really lost a sense of "home," in that Hallmark Card sense of the word; the "home" where family gathers for holidays, dinners, etc....

I am still alive. I haven't had enough time to sit down and write anything worth while lately. Soon. Soon. Until then. Read this little slice of wonderful: Are You There? W.H. Auden Each lover has some theory of his own About the difference between the ache Of being with his love, and being alone: Why what, when dreaming, is dear flesh and bone That really stirs the senses, when awake, Appears a simulacrum of his own. Narcissus disbelieves in the unknown; He cannot join his image in the lake So long as he assumes he is alone. The child, the waterfall, the fire, the stone, Are always up to mischief, though, and take The universe for granted as their own. The elderly, like Proust, are always prone To think of love as a subjective fake; The more they love, the more they feel alone. Whatever view we hold, it must be shown W hy every lover has a wish to make Some kind of otherness his own: Perhaps, in fact, we never are alone. I have been thinking a lot about relationships lately, so th...

"MAYBE January is the cruelest month. The holiday bills fester, the garden catalogs have not yet arrived with their immodest promises of spring, and escaping to warmer climes is harder now that the economy has stopped working. It’s a perfect time to sit in a chair, calmly, with a lap robe and a comforting book of poetry, and to think about where we live, listen to the heartbeat of here, and learn how words mean home..." Tina Kelley, in a NYTimes article recently. I thought I would share some links to some fav poems, though none of these peeps are from MI. Hope everyone is having a Happy New Year! Billy Collins, Thesaurus Billy Collins Taking off Emily Dickinson's Clothes Robert Frost, October Walt Whitman, I sing the body electric Elizabeth Bishop, The Map ENJOY!