Nosy Kid

The nosy little girl is back. She saw a list of companies I want to work for and picked up "TechSoup" for some reason.

"I know TechSoup, they make soup!" She said.
"Yes, they make good soup." I said. She's the talkative one, it's best not to engage her.
"My friend's mom works there!" She said. "My friend's mom is the MANAGER."
"Well in that case, can she get me a job there?"

nice suggestion

but I'm not going to make any effort to tell anyone that you think the spines on the dvds should be read horizontally, with the items stacked flat, rather than vertically like books. Even if people agreed with you and made that a priority, I can promise the library will no longer have DVDs by the time it becomes feasible.

Animals Don't Wear Pants

I had a very talkative young patron today. I tried to enlist her help drawing books for a display today. It's a kid's display, so it doesn't have to be "good" (ah, yes, I am not a through and through children's librarian). She drew a stick figure of Mama Bear from the Berenstain Bears and asked if she had to draw clothes on her.

All I could say is "not if it's an animal".

The real lesson here is, if you have unruly kids and teens, enlisting them to help make displays is my favorite diversion tactic. We made epic "murals" in Brooklyn using butcher paper on rolls, and it would take weeks to color in a nice 2x7 panel. To keep kids and teens from overcrowding, try to think of mural ideas in "pieces" such as "favorite books to read with mom" or "Alice in Wonderland". If you're a control freak like me, having them decorate elements of the mural such as "sneakers", "Easter eggs" or "letters" can keep your design somewhat in check while relieving you of doing all the work.