This week at the library; or, Yes that was a break right there, if you blinked you missed it

Because now school visits start! My favorite little preschool (no favoritism, really! It's just that I know all the teachers and most of the kids and it's such a nice place...) visits every spring and this is their week. Each group gets a tour, a storytime, and a craft. If the weather is nice, we do chalk drawing in front of the library. If it's not, we make butterfly masks. Each group stays for 45 minutes to an hour and we have fun!

Monday (Not as much fun as I had anticipated, since I felt miserably sick all day. However, I did not throw up or faint in front of the kids so it's all good, right?)

• 8:30am Four year old kindergarten group 1
• 9:45 Four year old kindergarten group 2
• 11-12 Desk time
• 12:30 Four year old kindergarten group 3
• Rest of the day - did a few minor things, wondered if I was feeling sick because I was sick or because I hadn't eaten anything because I felt sick...and updated the public google calendar through August, a project much more time-consuming than it sounds.

Tuesday

• 9:15 Three year old preschool group (younger threes)
• Rest of the day -  worked on newsletter and finished a list of health/development books (read: sex ed) for the school district.
• 3:30ish met with the three elementary school librarians to plot out the district Battle of the Books which we host at the library (since last year).

Wednesday

• 10am Preschool Interactive
• 3:30 Messy Art Club - I was thinking about chalk drawing, but thought it might be too cold and it ended up raining so we went with 3-D paper sculptures instead from Make and Takes I brought out paper and scraps and lots of tape, glue, scissors, and markers.

Thursday

• 9:15 Three year old preschool group (older threes)
• I went back home for a while, ran some errands...
• 3:30 Elephant and Piggie Kids' Club (last meeting until next fall, assuming I do it again in the fall)
• Evening on the desk

Friday

• Staff Development Day! Library closed. We had an all-staff meeting, went to Best Buy to look at gadgets (I hate that our patrons expect us to know EVERYTHING about every single gadget, no matter how weird, unknown, or expensive. How do they think we acquire this knowledge when we can't afford to purchase any of these items, either for the library or ourselves?) had lunch and then a presentation on customer service.

I did something a little different with each preschool class, depending on how wiggly they were, how well the books worked, and whatever came into my head at the moment (the whole feeling sick thing, plus my general impromptu-ness). These are the books we read:

• What animals really like by Fiona Robinson (A hit with all the classes and teachers!)
• Faster! Faster! by Leslie Patricelli
• Oh no, George! by Chris Haughton (I really didn't care for the illustrations on this one, but the kids loved it and it grew on me)
• Monkey's friends by Ruth Brown
• Little Chicken's big day by Katie Davis (Some of the parents groaned when I told the kids they should use the refrain at home. Heh heh heh)
• Silly Doggy by Adam Stower
• Piggy Bunny by Rachel Vail (I only read this once. I thought this was weird - the kids listened, but I don't think they really understood it. They said they liked it but...I dunno, weird.)
• Guardian Team by Cat Urbigkit (I love this book. Big fluffy dog! The older kids liked it and it was great for our discussion about fiction vs. nonfiction)
• Traction Man is here! by Mini Grey (You have to have just the right group of kids for this. I had the right group. Fun!)
• Chloe and the Lion by Mac Barnett (I only read this with the older kids. I thought they might not get it, and I don't think they did totally, but we talked a lot about what an author and an illustrator is and I cut a few parts short and they listened through the whole thing)
• Secret Agent Splat by Rob Scotton (I don't like Splat the Cat, but the parents really do. The kids...eh, they can take it or leave it)