This week at the library

Still working on the wedding quilt for my brother
and sister-in-law, who recently celebrated their
first anniversary... still, they can't actually use it
right now, since they're living in a burning wasteland.

Programs

• Paws to Read
• Taste of Farmer's Markets
• Family Storytime: Everything Grows
• Maker Workshop: Beading (2 sessions)
• Storywagon: Figureheads
• Summer school kindergarten field trip: Kohls Wild Theater

This week had many complex moving parts. Our lighting project was finished over the weekend and the library is MUCH brighter than before. Possibly a little too bright in some spots, but it's just right in the areas I use (youth area and community room) so I'm pleased. The summer reading program I'm doing doesn't really include registration. I changed that because it was becoming very time-consuming and difficult and because the DPI didn't even ask for registration or participation numbers for the annual report last year anyways (now, they might pull the surprise thing where they ask for different numbers AFTER WE'VE ALREADY COLLECTED THEM but that just means they're gonna get estimates and like it). We're also not really focused on numbers as much. I have ~350 kids and ~100 middle schoolers participating and I'm ok with that. Mostly. It's hard to get away from focusing on the numbers, but realistically with what I'm dealing with (covering adult services, COVID surges, changes in traffic) it's quite good. All our programs have had decent attendance as well and we have a steady stream of traffic in the youth area. The other new thing I tried this week was having Storywagon, our big performers, at the large cafetorium at the middle school, where "fun" summer school for elementary and middle school, happens. The school was wonderful about collaborating with me and although I only had two families come, there were close to 100 students there, so the first experiment was a success!

Next week our new adult services librarian starts and our biggest performer (Snake Discovery) is scheduled, so I have high hopes of things being interesting. One really nice moment was a grandmother on Saturday telling me how much she and her kids enjoyed my combination outdoor playtime/storytime last week. I read some stories and did some rhymes and then took the kids outside for a "hike" around the library, encouraging them to explore and fill brown paper lunch bags with whatever they found. They brought their finds inside and made nature suncatchers with them. I'm covering storytime for a beloved colleague who retired at the beginning of summer, so that was nice to hear.

I'm still not wholly back into systemic reviewing and I might not ever be, but I'm cutting myself some slack right now for general summer malaise and the not unexpected but still shocking blow at human rights this past week. It's hard to concentrate on cute picture books right now.