This week at the library

Scilla hiding under a pot,
surrounded by even
more evil invasives
(ground elder)

Programs

• Paws to Read
• Family Storytime
• 4K annual event: Incredible insects
• Family Storytime
• Teen Engagement

Self-Directed Activities

• Read and Grow
• Book-themed scavenger hunt
• Construction Hangout

Meetings, Hosted events, etc.

• 4-H meeting
• Girl Scouts

Notes

• Our grant process is involving a lot more work than any of us had expected! So many potential changes under discussion, lots and lots of measuring, etc. We hope to have a finished plan for the public in the near future though. I'm also deep in summer planning; we don't do a lot of programs and we're certainly not doing a lot this summer, but I have a ton of small updates for our summer reading itself, school field trips to coordinate, and our very complicated desk schedule. I'm also working on a bunch of collection projects. I took Thursday "off" and we were closed Friday.
• I have not stopped blogging! I am still working on my category by category overview of the picture book neighborhoods. However, I want to link to all my past reviews and I am updating, reformatting, and transferring them to Flying Off My Bookshelf. I also have a big stack of review copies ready for reviews but, as above, I am incredibly busy. Hopefully once we get into summer things will slow down a little, but it is more likely that I won't really get a break to catch my breath until next year.

This week at the library

Chevy had a motor
that just didn't stop!

Programs

• Paws to Read
• Family Storytime (2 sessions with my associate. Bat theme)
• Sewing workshop - no attendees

Outreach

• 3K-4K outreach storytimes (5-6 sessions)

Self-Directed Activities

• Read and Grow
• Book-themed scavenger hunt to coincide with National Library Week
• Pokemon Hangout
• Homeschool Hangout

Meetings, Hosted events, etc.

• Youth department summer reading meeting
• Managers' meeting
• Staff meeting aka measuring party

Notes

• Measure, measure, measure. It was not what I would call a party, as it involved a lot of staring at diagrams, measurements, blueprints, and numbers and constantly going back and forth and measuring things. Far too much like geometry. However, I don't particularly like parties and I have had much more miserable social experiences, so there's that. It's quite a process but we hope there will be a final plan we can make public in the near future.
• I am in full swing of planning/scheduling summer so I was not really very upset that the folks who registered for sewing didn't manage to make it. My associate covered storytimes and did a marathon of outreach storytimes - our regular storytime provider, a colleague from the school, is involved in a new testing (Act 20 for those of you in WI) and getting ready for the big annual 4K party next week.

This week at the library

Programs

• Itty Bitty Bopping Bakers
• Teen Homeschool Hangout (no show)
• Paws to Read
• Family Storytime
• Teen Engagement
• Youth D&D
• Family Storytime

Outreach

• Elementary classes at Lakeland School

Self-Directed Activities

• Open Storyroom

Notes

• I was supposed to do an outreach visit on Tuesday, but I just couldn't fit it in and I needed to cover the desk instead so I had to cancel it. I took Thursday and Friday off, but came in for a meeting with our design firm for the grant committee. It was a weird week because everyone was kind of in recovery mode from spring break, we had an election on Tuesday (our local school referendum did not pass, so there will probably be a lot of changes ahead in our partnership with the school district), and I got started on summer reading projects while my staff continued shifting. With Monday being the 31st that seems to have thrown everyone off, not just us, as people showed up for meetings that are usually on the first Monday, or didn't show up, etc. It was the quietest Monday night I can remember in a long time!
• Exciting things I did on my long weekend - purchased a load of dirt, arranged all the garden pots, distributed the dirt (with help from my upstairs neighbor), cleaned things, thought about cleaning things, caught up on some reading, sorted out some boxes of miscellaneous junk, put off doing laundry.

This month in the collection: March 2025

I was still purchasing replacements and updates for the picture book neighborhoods this month, but I also jumped over into a new project in high gear; weeding our young adult fiction and creating a new middle school/young teen collection. A lot of materials purchased this month were still replacements and that will continue into April. We also had staff out and various things going on, so it was a small month as far as adding materials to the collection.

Library Pinterest - new materials
Purchased or added to the library collection, unless otherwise noted.
**not yet purchased, but it's on a list!

Board Books

• Yeah, Baby!
• Firefighter Flo by Andrea Zimmerman (board book edition)

Picture Books

• Cat's colors by Airlie Anderson
• A prebound replacement of one of my favorites.
• Crack goes the cascaron by Sara Fajardo
• This is HILARIOUS.
• Bruce saves the planet by Ryan Higgins
• Not my favorite, but a new Bruce book is always nice.
• Lily's dream by Bea Jackson
• This book bubbles over by Nora Nickum
• Wrong-time rooster by Michael Parkin
• Katy No-Pocket by Emmy Payne
• A prebound replacement of a favorite of mine.
• Hello I'm an axolotl by Hayley Rocco
• The Sioux by Virginia Sneve
• An updated and republished series. It could easily be juvenile.
• Don't eat the cleaners by Susan Stockdale
• A day on fluffyville farm by Britta Teckentrup
• A new I-spy style book - very cute.
• Alpacas here, alpacas there by Carrie Tillotson

Early Readers and Transitional Chapters

• Stop that mop by Jonathan Fenske

Beginning Chapter Books

• Emerald Egg (A to Z animal mysteries)
• Penny and the tragic voyage (Girls Survive)
• Just started moving this series to JBC.
• Bigfoot by Dinah Williams (Unsolved Mysteries - new series)
• Adrift on the Indian Ocean (Wilderness Survival - new series from Capstone)

Other

• Sunrise on the Reaping by Suzanne Collins
• The first "new" book in our new young teen/middle school section!

This week at the library: Spring Break nearly broke us, but we remain standing!

Visiting snakes,
Curious George and Noodle

Programs

• Family Storytime with snakes (Tues & Thurs)

Self-Directed Activities

• Open Storyroom
• Construction Hangout
• Homeschool Hangout
• Daycare field trip
• Craft-o-rama
• Insect scavenger hunt
• Read and Grow
• Reading Explorer

Meetings, Hosted events, etc.

• Friends Book & Bake Sale

Notes

• In short, our already skeletal staff lost some bones this week. I got to do payroll for the first time, which was very exciting. I must have done it right because we all got paid lol. There was weirdness, which usually happens when our director is gone. I went all out and finished weeding the young adult area and my staff put in heroic effort and did all the shifting. I even managed to get it down to only THREE carts of books behind my desk, only one borrowed! There are still empty shelves in weird areas, and the youth area generally looks like a hurricane came through, but it will all settle down eventually!
• What really saved us this week, at least in my department, was that my school colleague was gone last week and so offered to come in for storytime this week! She even sourced some special guests (a teacher with snakes to share) and a great time was had by all 100+ people who crammed into our storyroom. This enabled my staff to jump over and cover gaps in the desk, plus people from other departments who stepped in.
• Oh, and what weirdness you ask? Well, I was at the library at 7:45am for Reasons on Tuesday and shortly before we opened the cook from the community org that uses our kitchen (they work with adults with disabilities) three times a week came in and said she was sorry to add to our load but... me "WHAT NOW?" and she says "I was in the kitchen and I heard a thump and, well, the clock fell off the wall." This is not a small clock. It is, (or was) almost 3ft in diameter and hangs on the wall in our Community Center. It turns out to have been an interesting mix of cheap and quality, i.e. the frame was all plastic (which broke, ripped, and snapped off) but the face was, you guessed it, glass! Which shattered. All over the floor. I hauled away the broken clock, the cook very kindly helped pick up all the large pieces of glass, then we swept the floor. There was nobody in the room that day besides Tax Aide, and I did warn them not to crawl around on the floor and it got vacuumed that night. I assume. Now that I retell the story, I had maybe better check the floor again, although I'm pretty sure anything still there is completely engrained. However, we do have small children in there this coming Monday... oh well.
• The week ended with the HVAC going out again, but thankfully the company came, flipped a switch, and it cooled off almost immediately. Hopefully it's still working next Monday...

This week at the library; In which we have actual programs

A seagull hovering in the
wind over the lake

Programs

• Paws to Read
• Very Hungry Caterpillar Party
• Teen Engagement
• Youth D&D
• Family Storytime (library staff)

Self-Directed Activities

• Pokemon Hangout

Meetings, Hosted events, etc.

• Girl Scouts

Notes

• I hardly ever do traditional "programs" anymore, not counting family storytimes, which are usually done by my school colleague or subbed for by one of my staff. We just can't get the attendance to make the time spent worth it. However, I did the Very Hungry Caterpillar Party last year, in lieu of storytime, and it worked out even better this year as my school colleague was absent, so we did this on Tuesday and my staff subbed in an actual Very Hungry Caterpillar storytime on Thursday. We actually got over 70 people, despite Unauthorized Shenanigans that required police attention.
• I took Friday off in mental preparation of a pretty intense Spring Break (our already skeletal staff is greatly depleted - we are very grateful that our school colleague was able to come in and cover storytimes after all so my staff and I can cover desk shifts and help out in circulation). I also spent a large portion of the weekend making candy for our last Friends book 'n' bake sale next week.
• I started my big slash and burn weeding project of the young adult fiction last week and I'm also slowly getting together a mental picture of what a young teen/middle school collection will look like as new items and replacements come in. It will be very patchy at first, as I'm not going to relabel a lot of things.
• A lot of collections are in transition right now, which is confusing for staff and patrons, but I can't magically relabel and shift everything all at once!

This week at the library; A week of meetings

Teen volunteer hanging
out with our Paws to Read
visitor.

Programs

• Paws to Read
• Family Storytime (our school colleague was out sick, staff subbed)
• Teen engagement: journal-making
• Family Storytime
• Teen Advisory Board

Outreach

• Daycare/preschool/4K outreach storytimes
• 1st grade Library on the Go outreach

Self-Directed Activities

• Read and Grow
• Reading Explorer
• Scavenger Hunt: Bugs
• Construction Hangout
• Homeschool Hangout

Meetings, Hosted events, etc.

• 4-H meeting
• Virtual consortium meet-up
• Collection/shelving measurement meeting
• youth services department meeting (except two people were gone, so really it was just lunch)
• 2 virtual meetings to pick the brains of some helpful librarians regarding the new middle school collection
• Managers' meeting

Notes

• So many meetings this week. I am still researching and working on my new young teen/middle school collection as well as finishing the last bits of the neighborhood projects. I started my new big weed/project in the young adult. Picture book replacements are starting to come in. I spent some very frustrating hours measuring shelves - I just couldn't get my head around the numbers/formulas I was asked for! Happily, I finally got something that worked as well as made my own data overview.
• AND I was late to one of said meetings b/c a herd of deer decided to cross the road ONE AT A TIME in the MIDDLE OF THE MORNING. Very annoying.
• We had a heat wave, more or less (thank you climate change) and the library hvac system did NOT react well. Wednesday - Friday it was ~75 or higher on the lower level around the circulation/info desk and probably closer to ~80 in the youth area, due to the heat pouring in through the windows. I suffered.

This week at the library

Little noodlers at Miss Esther's
family storytime

Programs

• Family storytime
• Teen engagement
• Family storytime

Outreach

• School wrap-around outreach
• 4K & Daycare outreach

Self-Directed Activities

• Pokemon Hangout
• Open Storyroom
• Open Storyroom/Homeschool Hangout

Meetings, Hosted events, etc.

• Girl Scouts
• Summer Fun for All Ages with GLOBE Citizen Science! (webinar)
• Vendor meeting
• Elementary school art show

Notes

• Finishing reports, meetings, desk time, busy evening with the art show, etc. I am almost finished with the neighborhoods project - at this time there are only ~30 books still checked out to be reviewed and one more large section of replacements depending on grants that I'll be putting in next week.
• As I'm going over the final stages of the picture book neighborhoods project, it's going to affect my reviewing only in so far as I'm going to be a LOT pickier about putting books I've borrowed from other libraries on my wishlist. I'd certainly rather buy lots of interesting books than another 20 copies of Pete the Cat, but here we are.

Picture Book Neighborhoods: Favorites

  This collection has moved around as we moved our shelves. At one point, it was directly facing our play area. In the last shifting of shelves, it was at the beginning of the shelf ranges for the neighborhoods, across from the play area, but facing our windows. This is also the narrowest of the aisles and most folks who stopped at the desk asking for Pete the Cat, Pigeon books, etc. then had to walk to the back of the area. While I was shifting the books, I kept most of this collection on a cart at the desk and people beelined to it right away. I then put it at the end of the picture book neighborhoods, so it's the first thing you see as you approach those shelves, and whole sections were immediately checked out. I also shifted a couple favorites that had grown in popularity into this area, like Pig the Pug and Grumpy Monkey. Disney books have moved in and out of this collection and the current area makes it easier to point folks to the tub books, with additional media tie-ins.

List of favorite characters and series

 - This changes over time - some become classics, sometimes new ones are added, sometimes I shift away older titles that have fallen out of favor (or out of print). Generally I look for things that have 5 or more individual titles and that kids ask for by name. The number of items currently on order is mostly new or prebound titles - I am still working through replacements! All of these have dividers unless otherwise noted.

• Stanley by William Bee
• This is one that doesn't get asked for as often, but does better when it's all together rather than being spread throughout the GO and COMMUNITY neighborhoods.
• Stanley the Builder
• Stanley's garage
• Stanley's Fire Engine
• Stanley the baker
• 22 titles, 11 checked out, 2 replacements on order.
• Pig the Pug by Aaron Blabey
• Pig the Pug
• 20 titles, 10 checked out.
• Bluey
• These are a mix of prebound and hardcover. 
• 25 titles, 24 checked out, 35 on order (includes preorders through fall 2025).
• Clifford by Norman Bridwell - no divider
• Most of these are paperbacks in the tub books - and many of the originals are out of print. However, I have the original, first title in hardcover and plan to add ~5 more as I update the collection. I may, at that time, add a divider for these.
• Drew Daywalt - The Crayons
• There's only two picture books in this "series" but there are a whole bunch of mini books centered around holidays. They quickly got lost on the shelf, so it made sense to move them here.
• 10 titles, 5 checked out, 7 on order.
• Llama Llama by Dewdney
• This is mostly the originals with only a couple prebound tie-ins.
• 26 titles, 6 checked out, 2 on order.
• Ryan T. Higgins
• The divider is for Mother Bruce, but I also include Penelope Rex and Norman. There are also a bunch of mini Mother Bruce books.
• Mother Bruce
• Hotel Bruce
• Spring stinks
• Santa Bruce
• We don't eat our classmates!
• 21 titles, 12 checked out, 4 on order.
• How to catch...
• Originally it made the most sense to put these with the holiday or season. Then they started getting more esoteric with things like "garden fairy" and "yeti." So far, they are all just sitting in a sullen lump on the shelf, so we'll see if putting them all together was a good idea or not.
• 36 titles, 14 checked out, 1 on order.
• The Food Groups by John Jory
• There are 7? of the basic picture books, but I have multiple copies as they get used for various school projects and are popular. There are also a couple tie-ins.
• The Bad Seed
• The Good Egg
• 18 titles, 10 checked out, 1 on order
• Pinkalicious by Victoria Kann
• I've always disliked these, but the patrons and kids want them. A lot of my copies have worn out, including the couple tie-ins I had. I keep more in the tubs (paperbacks of the easy reader spin-offs).
• 16 titles, 8 checked out
• Grumpy Monkey by Suzanne Lang
• This recently became popular and I purchased multiples of the titles - I plan to get more.
• Grumpy Monkey
• Grumpy Monkey: Party Time
• 11 titles, 10 checked out, 5 on order.
• If you give... by Laura Numeroff
• This is another popular series that I don't particularly care for, but people love. I am trying to have 4 copies of each of the original titles. They're labeled on their divider with the Mouse from the first book.
• 16 titles, 5 checked out, 2 on order
• Fancy Nancy by Jane O'Connor
  
• I've always rather liked Fancy Nancy - I definitely prefer her to Pinkalicious. The original picture books expanded to include smaller format spin-off picture books, then easy readers, then some tie-ins. My collection is very, very worn and needs replacements, but I haven't yet started ordering them.
• Fancy Nancy and the wedding of the century
• 23 titles, 19 checked out
• Paw Patrol
• These have always been paperbacks in the tubs, but they've started publishing some hardcovers so I added those and then some prebinds.
• 16 titles, 11 checked out, 5 on order.
• Peppa Pig - no divider
• Like Paw Patrol these have always been paperbacks, but they've started publishing some hardcover books.
• 1 title, 4 titles on order.
• Pete the Cat
• I liked the first couple books, although endless repetitions quickly took the shine out of them. I don't particularly care for the later ones, or the gazillion spin-offs and tie-ins, but people love them.
• Pete the Cat and the New Guy
• 40 titles, 15 checked out, 7 titles on order
• Jasper Rabbit - Aaron Reynolds
• This is Creepy carrots etc. It doesn't really fit, since there's only 3 titles, but it gets asked for so much that I decided to put it in the favorites. I thought there was going to be a new book next fall, but it turned out to be a chapter book! Which is cool too.
• Creepy pair of underwear
• 7 copies, 6 checked out.
• Mo Willems - Knuffle Bunny and Pigeon
• I previously had all of Mo Willems' books together in the favorites area. However, I've found that his non-series books are much less-known and since he's moved away from his signature style, and started writing some titles with other illustrators, I decided to spread his books out throughout the collection and just keep these two popular series here.
• The duckling gets a cookie
• The pigeon needs a bath
• Knuffle Bunny - 3 titles, 3 checked out. I have three additional copies on order.
• Pigeon - 33 titles, 9 checked out, 5 titles on order.
• Bear by Karma Wilson
• I admit these mostly leave me cold, but the pictures are cute and the kids do like the rhymes.
• 17 titles, 5 checked out, 6 titles on order.
• Dinosaurs by Jane Yolen
• How do dinosaurs say I love you
• 10 titles, 2 checked out.

This month in the collection: February 2025

This was a short month, and yet somehow extremely long. I'm still spending most of my time and budget on purchasing replacements.

Library Pinterest - new materials
*purchased for or added to the library collection
**not yet purchased, but it's on a list!

Board Books

• *This little duckling by Ingela P. Arrhenius
• * I can say mama book; I can say dada book by Stephanie Cohen
• *Below the ice by Michael Escoffier
• I bought this based on reviews and it is funny! My staff have all enjoyed it.
• *Hank goes peck by Maudie Powell-Tuck

Picture Books

• **The interpreter by Olivia Abtahi
• Can't wait to get his one! It's sooo good!
• *Little and big by Anne Gutman
• Hasn't been cataloged yet, but it came in my last shipment.
• **Not a smiley guy by Polly Horvath
• *Ramon Fellini the dog detective by Guilherme Karsten
• A teacher requested this - it's hilarious!
• *How we share cake by Hyo-un Kim
• *Gift of the great buffalo by Carole Lindstrom
• I had a review copy I added - I hope to buy additional copies before summer, but B&T has it down as delayed delivery.
• **All the rocks we love by Lisa Varchal Perron
• *Eat like a bear by April Pulley Sayre
• New edition. One of my favorite books!
• **The good little mermaid's guide to bedtime by Eija Sumner
• I want it sooo bad, but the price is high.

Early Readers and Transitional Chapters

• *Mooncakes mean family by Shum Benson
• *My dog is best by David Catrow
• *I help by Joe Cepeda
• *The perfect spot by Kallie George
• *Lone wolf gets a pet by Kiah Thomas
• *Pup and dragon by Alice Walstead
• I am still fairly meh about these, but they were on sale.

Beginning Chapter Books

• *Detective Beans by Li Chen
• *Crimson Twill: Witch in the country by Kallie George
• *Bitsy & Boozle tell a story by Sara Goetter
• *Connor and the Taekwondo tournament; Violet and the Jurassic land exhibit by Jen Malia

Juvenile Fiction

• *Pablo and Splash by Sheena Dempsey
• *Into the dark forest by Liz Flanagan
• *Chickenpox by Remy Lai
• *Coral's reef by David Lumsden
• I waited to purchase this until I could get it in prebind. Instantly popular.
• *Same page by Elly Swartz
• *The truth about 5th grade by Kim Tomsic
• *Inside the park by Andrea Williams
• I purchased multiple replacement copies of Dog Man and Cat Kid in prebind.

Juvenile Nonfiction

• *Poop happened by Sarah Albee
• Replacement copy
• *Spooky lakes by Geo Rutherford
• **Power to the parasites by Chelsea L. Wood

Other

• *Lone Wolf: Flight from the dark by Joe Dever
• I'm curious to see if this is popular - my director certainly had fond childhood memories of it!

This week at the library

Small builder at Construction Hangout

Programs

• Teen Homeschool Hangout
• Paws to Read
• Family Storytime
• Teen Advisory Board
• Family Storytime

Outreach

• Lakeland School (off-site)
• Homeschool event

Self-Directed Activities

• Read and Grow
• Reading Explorer
• What's in my body scavenger hunt
• Construction Hangout
• Homeschool Hangout

Meetings, Hosted events, etc.

• Friends general meeting
• Managers' meeting

Notes

• My main project this week was writing my monthly report - a lot of things happened this month and I've been cogitating over some long-term changes and projects I want to focus on. I also wrote an additional report, which involved lots of staring at security cameras, estimating numbers, and reviewing traffic patterns in the library. I discovered that one area is really hard to estimate because the way the light reflects through the windows puts patrons into shadows! (No patron privacy was violated - I can't see that well, for one thing, to actually identify anybody, but really I was just looking at how people moved through different areas at different times.)
• I am also finishing the neighborhoods project. I organized and purchased a lot of replacements last weekend, but I'm still working on this. I've also been shifting - a sweaty and frustrating project. I am DONE and will let the collection settle and then revisit it in April.
• I spent funds from last year's Giving Tree that were still extant, attended our Friends general meeting to request funds for the picture book neighborhoods - specifically focusing on a couple areas that need significant outlay, and did a lot of other misc. things.
• I just managed to finish updating the Read and Grow program, which has a lot of book lists that use the Neighborhoods, but I still need to update our Pinterest pages and order replacements.

Picture Book Neighborhoods: Classics

What is a "classic"? Who knows? In a sort of general way I consider it to be older titles, sometimes having won awards sometimes not, which remain in print. They tend to be much longer than today's picture books as when they were published they were aimed at older children and most children also had longer attention spans. They also don't generally fit well into the neighborhood categories and most have no new titles to be added, only new editions or reprints. Only a few have dividers and I have noted those.

List of individual titles or small collections of classics

• The Brambly Hedge complete collection by Jill Barklem
• This is a personal favorite of mine and the originals are small books, like Beatrix Potter, but it's become a strong favorite of many of my patrons.
• 
  The complete cloudy with a chance of meatballs by Judi Barrett
• This is a combined volume that includes the companion book, Pickles to Pittsburgh.
• Madeline by Bemelmans
• I am fully aware that several of these have outdated and racist language. However, they circulate so they are in the collection. I have two collections and two individual titles, the original Madeline and Madeline's Christmas.
• Arthur by Marc Brown
• I get asked for these mostly by teachers - most of them are out of print. I do have Arthur's Eyes, Arthur's teacher trouble, and for some reason, two copies of Arthur turns green. At some future point when I have funds I will consider adding some prebound copies if they are available.
• Margaret Wise Brown
• This is one of those classic authors that it's a huge pain to find the original, basic classic. You have to wade through endless board books, toy combinations, special editions, etc. etc. I have My World and Runaway Bunny and am looking for a replacement of Goodnight Moon. 
• Babar by Jean de Brunhoff
• Like Madeline, these are pretty outdated. They aren't something I would probably read to my own kids, although I still have a childhood copy. Even though I don't think most children will grasp the colonial background of the stories, it's a mindset that I wouldn't want to introduce. But, that's not my choice for my patrons. I have Babar the king, The travels of Babar, and The Story of Babar.
• Eric Carle - marked with divider
• This is probably one of the most extensive "classic" authors I have. I include Bill Martin Jr.'s "Bear" books here as well, since this is usually where people look for them. I try to have several copies of the most familiar and popular stories, like The Very Hungry Caterpillar and I periodically replace the other titles as needed. This is another one that can be frustrating as the most popular titles go in and out of print and there are a gazillion spin-off editions under the Eric Carle name.
• A comparison of the picture book and easy reader of A House for Hermit Crab
• Five little monkeys jumping on the bed by Eileen Christelow
• There's a whole series of these. Not my personal favorite, and they don't get asked for often and are mostly out of print, but I do get requests often enough that I'll keep this. I might add a couple more in the series if I find them on a discount site at some point.
• Maisy by Lucy Cousins
• I remember when Maisy was as big as Peppa Pig. She's not as popular nowadays, and I mostly purchase Maisy books in board book format since her picture books were ready to pieces, but I do have about 5 of them and add to it occasionally. This is the only "classic" series that regularly has new titles.
• Barbara DeRubertis - alphabet series
• There's one book for each letter (I'm missing Polly Porcupine, but it's out of print). Frankly, these are here b/c I'm not relabeling and moving 25 books.
• Drummer Hoff by Barbara Emberley
• Olivia by Ian Falconer - marked with a divider
• There are only 5? I think? of the original books. They've gradually disappeared due to wear and tear and I am trying to keep 2 copies at least of each one.
• Corduroy by Don Freeman
• Just the original two - Corduroy and A Pocket for Corduroy.
• Millions of Cats by Wanda Gag
  
• Just ordered a replacement of this.
• Frances by Russell Hoban
• I have the three that are generally still in print - Bedtime for Frances, Bread and Jam for Frances, and Best friends for Frances.
• Angelina Ballerina by Holabird
• I've moved these back and forth from the Dance section. I think they are now in "classic" category and besides a couple copies of the first title, the only one I make sure I have is Angelina at the Fair.
• Ezra Jack Keats
• I have Snowy Day of course, a collection, and a couple individual titles.
• Robert Kraus
• I recently moved Where are you going, little mouse? and Whose mouse are you? to this section because they weren't circulating in the general area.
• The story of Ferdinand by Munro Leaf
• Tacky by Helen Lester
• Not one that I like, but I do get asked for them fairly regularly. I have 4.
• Leo Lionni
• 
  I am a big fan of Leo Lionni and when I keep them all together here they check out regularly, although not to the extent of more popular titles. I have 10 titles including Swimmy and Frederick.
• Froggy by Jonathan London
• These used to be much more popular. They are still mostly available in prebound, but I don't think they're worth expending the purchase money. I have 7 and I try to keep between 5 and 10.
• The Magic School Bus
• So, I have three of the original titles, Explore the senses, Inside a hurricane, and Inside a beehive. From the amount of requests I get for these, I could probably have more. But, while information doesn't generally outdate as much for a younger audience, I am not going to expend funds on purchasing very outdated nonfiction books. Additionally, most of them are out of print. In my opinion, teachers should be using other materials. I keep this handful specifically for a couple patrons who are autistic and get very focused on older kids' tv shows like this.
• Robert McCloskey
• 
  We had multiple copies in heavy, never-fail library binding. I've weeded a few as they stopped circulating or became very shabby, but the ones I've kept still circulate regularly. I have several copies of Make way for ducklings and Blueberries for Sal and a couple other random titles.
  
• Robert Munsch
• I'm not a huge fan of Munsch. I don't dislike him, I just don't care for the books and I don't think they make particularly good read-alouds. The ones I have circulate, but not often enough that I feel the need to purchase more and I never get asked for them. I have one collection and three individual titles.
• Sam Bangs and Moonshine by Evaline Ness
• This is a weird one but every time I figure it's never going to circulate again and I might as well weed it, someone comes in and borrows it. So, I keep it.
• Rainbow Fish by Marcus Pfister
• I detest this book. I keep at least two copies of it.
• Beatrix Potter
• I used to have a collection of the small books, but they didn't really circulate - caregivers were worried about losing them. I replaced them with several collections.
• Curious George by H. A. Rey
• I only have the original books here. I think there are 7. These are the only paperback picture books I keep, because they are so thick. I also keep Pretzel here.
• We're going on a bear hunt by Michael Rosen
• I had to replace this anyways, so I've decided to move it to the classics section.
• Richard Scarry - Busytown - divider
• I put all the titles with the Busytown theme, characters, or art style here. They recently reprinted a lot of them, but the bindings weren't super strong so I've had to replace a few several times.
• Splat the Cat by Scotton - divider
• This series goes in and out of popularity. Right now, I'm keeping the picture books here and I don't think there are going to be any more.
• Maurice Sendak
• I have a couple copies of Where the wild things are. Everything else was weeded for lack of use except... Bumble-ardy. Do not ask me, I have no idea why it's circulating so much.
• Dr. Seuss - divider
• I'm not going to enter into any discussions about this. They circulate regularly and I get asked for them, but they are not so popular that I feel the need to purchase additional copies or have every book that Seuss wrote or that was dug out of his attic after his death. I try to keep the main titles - Horton, The Lorax, and The Grinch. This is just the original books, no spin-offs.
• David Shannon - divider
• I include A bad case for stripes and Alice the fairy here. I would have thought this was complete, but a new David book is coming out in spring 2025.
• Caps for sale by Slobodkina
• William Steig
• These really don't circulate much, but I keep a couple of the best-known titles.
• 
  Eloise in Paris by Kay Thompson
• Anatole by Eve Titus
• I admit I keep two Anatole books because they're favorites of mine. They do circulate occasionally though!
  
• Chris Van Allsburg
• I used to have a huge collection of these, but lack of circulation caused me to weed them down. I only have four of the best-known titles.
• Lyle Lyle Crocodile
• I just replaced the collected first four stories with a new collection.
• The biggest bear by Lynd Ward
• David Wiesner
• I moved some of his other titles into the neighborhoods - I just kept Tuesday and Flotsam here.
• The Velveteen Rabbit by Margery Williams
• King Bidgood's in the bathtub by Audrey Wood
• I moved a couple of her other books into other areas.
• Hey Al by Arthur Yorinks

This week at the library

Sensory bin at Miss Esther's 
family storytime

Programs

• Family Storytime (2 sessions)
• Teen engagement: Candlemaking

Outreach

• 4K/Daycare outreach visits (4 sessions)

Self-Directed Activities

• Read and Grow
• Reading Explorer
• What's in my body scavenger hunt
• Pokemon Hangout
• Open Storyroom

Meetings, Hosted events, etc.

• Girl Scouts
• schedule review meeting

Notes

• I took Thursday and Friday off and I am working on disconnecting more from work, so I did not check my email once! Of course, I still worked on my collection development projects lol. I am in the final stages of weeding the neighborhoods - I have relabeled the last sections and staff will do the final covering while I'm gone. My associate was finishing up the dividers too. What remains now is to do a final, major shifting which I hope to tackle next week, ~100 books that are currently checked out and need to be reviewed and relabeled, and the actual collection development. I have a long list of replacements to review and purchase, and I am working on the favorites/classics section specifically to update and add to the collection. Moving it to a more visible area of the collection is great, but it means that everything has instantly checked out, leaving us with empty shelves!