Classics Gone Crazy Themed Storytime

These are three books that I thought would make a fun storytime for the spunky kids.  But they got too spunky yesterday afternoon. I had to stop in the middle of reading Waking Beauty and remind them that I choose to bring this program to them and I don't see why I should continue if I'm going to be met with rude behavior, especially when they're begging me for an art activity. They calmed down after our talk, but I was already upset. I skipped Waking Beauty and powered through Mary so we could get to the art activity (which I didn't think they deserved at that point) and I could go home.

The Eensy Weensy Spider FREAKS OUT! (Big time!) by Troy Cummings
Funny story about a spider who gives up on climbing after she is washed off a waterspout. But her friend ladybug encourages her to venture out again.

The lamp I would drag around.

Waking Beauty by Leah Wilcox
   Wilcox's stories that turn fairytales around for a different   perspective are quite funny and pleasantly silly. In this book, based on Sleeping Beauty, the prince doesn 't take the time to listen to the fairy godmothers and so tries every other way to wake Beauty, but with a kiss.

Mary Had a Little Lamp by Jack Lechner
This funny take on the classic nursery rhyme is about a girl obsessed with her lamp instead of a lamb obsessed and stalking a girl.

Library News: Lance Armstrong Controversy

Who’d have thought this Lance Armstrong controversy would lead to discussions about pubic librarianship? I sure didn’t. But here we are, half the library world is up in arms about it and the rest are just sitting around trying to change the channel, like me.

The problem is that the Up-In-Armers want to make some changes and that makes us Channel Surfers have to stand up and say something.

What are some libraries doing? Well, right now there’s a lot of librarian discussions about what different systems are planning to do with Armstrong books. You’ve probably seen the viral picture from Manly Library, Sydney, Australia.

And word on the listservs is that several Southern California libraries will actually remove Armstrong books from their collections. That, in my, and I’m sure other librarians’ opinions, is where the line gets crossed.

First of all, think about it from a capitalistic point of view: Now that there’s a controversy, the books are more likely to circulate, so you’re limiting your own circulation by not letting those books go out. 

Now from a library activist's point of view: Dude. We’re not here to censor. We’re not here to define truth or lies for people. Libraries exist to provide the public with the tools to make those decisions for themselves. You cross the line when you start to make decisions for the public telling them what they can’t read. And I don’t want to hear someone come back with a jab at collection development policies. I’m focusing here on banned books and censoring. Think about what Reverend Shaw Moore in Footloose (1984) said:

 "The devil isn't in these books. It's in here. It's in our hearts."

Why are Mythologies and Folklore found in the nonfiction section? Mythology is usually based in religion or a belief system and is or was believed to be true. Folklore is often true stories that have been stretched by the telephone game of time and distance. Basically, both myth and folklore are based in truth or are believed to be true by one or more groups of people. 
Lance Armstrong really did what he did, whether he did it with help or not. That all really happened. It wasn't CGI or Photoshop. 

Process that and then think about what you should do with Lance Armstrong books.

Media and Children

A library advocate friend of mine sent me this TED talk about Media and Children  by pediatrician Dimitri Christakis and I'm so glad to see that the discussion of children and screen time has shifted a little.
I hear it from most of my colleagues, and I've got stacks of pamphlets I'm supposed to give out to parents that basically vilifies TV and any other electronic screen having thingee and parents who let their children watch it. I don't think that's right and I haven't been able to bring myself to hand out one pamplet against screen time because I don't agree with how they make their argument.

When I was born, my mom was given a television as a gift. I've never not had a TV in my bedroom. I watched a lot of TV as a child and am still an avid TV consumer. I know that children's programs are very different from the shows I watched growing up. As you'll see in Christakis' talk, shows 20-30 years ago were much slower paced, had less violence if any at all (Ha! Tom & Jerry non-violent? Ha!) and I doubt television producers even knew what rapid sequencing or "Nonstop Frenetic Animated Action" was except to illustrate "crazy" (Think of the Pink Elephants sequence in Dumbo).  This is what the discussion should really be about and I'm happy Christakis focuses it that way: Over-stimulation causes long-term attention and perception issues in children. Small amounts of over-stimulation can be counterbalanced by heaping doses of cognitive stimulation, or face-to-face interaction with humans, especially their loving parents or caregivers.

So, this is the Sort of a Librarian stance: TV isn't bad for your child, but over-stimulation and cognitive neglect is. Spend as much time as possible playing, singing, talking, holding, reading to and just being with your child. If you're worried about violence and other questionable content, don't let them watch those programs, or take some time to discuss it with your child. Notice that that involves more face-to-face interaction. I see a trend...

My Rant on Education and Some Questionable Teachers

Every kid, in every school, in every district, in every state will not be able to understand the same things. Case in point:
A kid came in for homework help and we have excellent homework helpers at our library, yet they were stuck on a particular question on this kid's homework. He was asked to identify the picture by writing the name of the item underneath. This was an exercise in phonics, because all of the pictures were three-letter words using different A sounds. The picture my staff was stumped on was one of a tree with what looked like a stick sticking out of it and a bucket hanging from the stick. I knew what it was immediately, but that's because I watch a lot of TV. How are kids from the inner city of Los Angeles supposed to know what a tree tap is? Or is the word supposed to be sap? Or if it weren't three-letter words, I would've suggested "maple." I was tempted to send a note back to the teacher, but I let it go.

Another kid came in with this ridiculous project topic: What is the role of the library in the community? Now, as a librarian, not only do I know the answer to the question, but I can find ample articles to support my point. What makes this project ridiculous is the fact that it was assigned to a 2nd grader. I dare you... double dare you to find information explaining the role of the public library that a 2nd grader can read. Go ahead. I hope you find something and can share with me because I searched books, databases and all over the Internet, but was unable to find anything below a 6th grade level. Now, what teacher is going to send their 2nd graders out on that kind of goose hunt without searching for themselves to see if there is any information on the topic? The teacher who doesn't care or forgot that they weren't teaching a high school level course. Oh yeah! That's right. Huh.

And then there are the teachers who send all 30+ kids in their class to the library to get books and information on the same topic. Could you give us a heads-up, for goodness sakes? At 3:30 p.m., one kid comes in asking for books on China, we give him all the information he can hold. Then half an hour later the rest of the class is lined up, but all the China books were checked out by the first kid because we had no idea the whole class had the same project. Would it have hurt that teacher to give us a call on Monday to inform us they'd be assigning that topic on Friday? How much time would that take them and save us here at the library. Countless hours my friend. Countless hours.