A Special Tribute in Honor of National Library Week
It’s National Library Week! First sponsored in 1958, National Library Week is a national observance sponsored by the American Library Association (ALA) and libraries across the country each April. It is a time to celebrate the contributions of our nation’s libraries and librarians and to promote library use and support.
I’d like to give a shout out to all the wonderful librarians at our library!
A special thank you to the staff at the West Jordan Branch of the Salt Lake County Library System! Especially to Mindy, whom we see once a week at story time (for two years now!) and who doesn’t mind the fact that my toddler can’t sit still. And also a thank you to the wonderful staff manning the desks and who always know without asking to check to see if I have holds under my husbands name as well.
I’d also love to give a wonderful thank you to the staff of the South Jordan Branch of the Salt Lake County Library System, especially Miss Alison whom we visit twice a week for story time. Yes, I know, this is three story times a week! We’ve been faithfully attending for a year and a half and Miss Alison is the greatest. I don’t know where she gets her energy or how she knows all the kids names, but it’s amazing! I appreciate that she calls my two children by name and makes them feel like they are the most important kids there. She even helps me hunt down my toddler when he escapes (which believe me for being in a enclosed room, he does a lot)! Our library has two pet hamsters – my son calls them “the mouse.” All it takes is one word uttered from my little boys mouth – “mouse” and Miss Allison makes his day be taking them out of their cage so he can pet them. Thank you , thank you.
And might I add, that you know you’re at the library far to much, when the librarians behind the reference desk tells you how cute your latest haircut is and that you’re kids ar changing right before their eyes.
To give you an idea of how often I use the library system, I thought I might list the current books I have checked out from the library:
Read and about to be returned:
I Am the Messenger by Markus Zusak
The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane by Kate DiCamillo
Good Masters! Sweet Ladies! : Voices from a Medieval Village by Laura Amy Schlitz
Criss Cross by Lynn Rae Perkins
Why I think I can read all of these in three weeks is beyond me:
The Fortune Quilt by Lani Diane Rich
The Friday Night Knitting Club by Kate Jacobs
Half of a Yellow Sun by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
The Translator : A Tribesman’s Memoir of Darfur by Daoud Hari
The True Story of Hansel and Gretel by Louise Murphy
When the Elephants Dance by Tess Uriza Holthe
Zel by Donna Jo Napoli
Horns and Wrinkles by Joseph Helgerson
Books/Videos/CD’s for the kids:
Animal Antics by Hap Palmer (cd)
Bob the Builder. When Bob Became a Builder (dvd)
Hearts and Stars by Two-Can
Here Come the ABCs by They Might Be Giants (cd)
How Do Dinosaurs Play With Their Friends? by Jane Yolen
My Toys by Caroline Davis
My Very First Look at Colors by Christiane Gunzi
Potty Time! by Parker K. Sawyer
Big Boys Use the Potty by Andrea Pinnington
The Potty Train by Hochman, David
A Train goes Clickety-Clack by Jonathan London
Quiet Loud by Leslie Patricelli
Baby Happy, Baby Sad by Leslie Patricelli
Yummy, Yucky by Leslie Patricelli
Sesame Street. The Great Numbers Game (dvd)
Thomas & Friends. Tales from the Tracks (dvd)
Thomas & Friends. Thomas, Percy & the Dragon & Other Stories (dvd)
Thomas & friends. Trust Thomas & Other Stories (dvd)
I check out Leslie Patricelli’s books so often that I’m slowly buying them all! The Potty Train is perhaps the cutest book I’ve ever seen about potty-training! I’m going to buy this one. I have a potty training post currently in draft mode, so watch for this one! And my little one can not leave the library without getting a Thomas the Train video, so by the end of the week, we have three. They all get returned the beginning of the week and then we start over.
Holds ready for me to pick up tomorrow:
Number the Stars by Lois Lowry
The Tale of Despereaux by Kate DiCamillo
Books/Video’s/CD’s currently on hold (I have to use both my card and my husband’s card to get away with having this many holds):
All the Fishes Come Home to Roost : an American misfit in India by Rachel Manija Brown
Cellist Of Sarajevo by Steven Galloway
The Goose Girl by Shannon Hale
The Other Boleyn Girl by Philippa Gregory
The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett
Princess Academy by Shannon Hale
Three Cups of Tea : One Man’s Mission to Promote Peace– One School at a Time
by Greg Mortenson
Atonement by Ian McEwan
The Bookseller of Kabul by Asne Seierstad
The Hiding Place by Corrie Ten Boom
The Host by Stephenie Meyer
The Wednesday Wars by Gary D Schmidt
Juno music from the motion picture (cd)
The Kite Runner (DVD)
24. Season 6 (3 holds for entire season) (DVD)
Sigh . . . in addition to checking out way to many books from the library, I have way to many books on my bookshelf that I haven’t read yet, and I have this urge to always buy new books as well, therefore adding to my collection faster than I can read them!
Celebrate National Library Week and give your library a shoutout!
Hey you! Yes. You! I've noticed that you've stopped by to visit a few times! But I don't know who you are. Why don't you take a moment and introduce yourself. Don't be scared. I try not to bite. I know you're a lurker but I'd love to hear your thoughts about what's been bringing you here. And if you haven't done so already, don't forget to never miss a post by subscribing to my feed or receiving updates by email. Thanks for visiting!
Category: Bookish Musings & Miscellany
Tags: ALA, library
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Ah, the plague we all suffer. I keep ‘requesting’ books from other libraries, but I get all excited and request too many, not thinking that they’ll all come in at once, and then I’ve got all these books that I can’t renew because other people have put holds on them, but I can’t finish them all in 3 weeks, and I have to return some of them unread. It’s my greatest tragedy.
on April 15th, 2008 at 8:43 amI once put a hold on a book that I already had checked out because I couldn’t renew it and it had a long wait. That way I wouldn’t have to wait so long to get it back again.
on April 15th, 2008 at 9:17 amYippee for Libraries! I use mine a lot too. I go every week and have at least 10 books out at one time. I”m potty training my daughter and we’ve read books and watched videos and I’m always on the lookout for more so I’m looking forward to your post.
on April 15th, 2008 at 3:38 pmCallista – Thanks for visiting! We’re potty training my little boy. No success yet but he loves the books. I know he gets the idea . . .
on April 15th, 2008 at 8:36 pmWow, I can see why you appreciate your librarians! Your library haul looks like ours back when we used to homeschool. It’s still pretty scary, though. I also use my husband’s card, though not because my library has any limits (nor any fines, hooray!) but just out of embarrassment. Like if I’m with him there and find a book even though I have five overdues, I’ll give him the book and go hide in the car.
on April 16th, 2008 at 3:35 pmDew – I’ve hit my 30 limit checkout quite often (mostly because of the kids) and have to use my husband’s card. Sometimes, though when I have a hold to pick up and we’re driving by, I send my husband in. Probably because I’ll think the librarians think I’m nuts because they just saw me that morning!
on April 16th, 2008 at 9:54 pmI have the same library experience. I have about 90 books checked out right now. Although only 30 of them are mine. The rest are for my daughter.
We have a small satilite library so I request books and then pick them up. I reserve so many books that the librarians know me by name. 
I have the same problem though of all my books coming in at once. I have to prioritize them based on how log I have been waiting for them.
Oh yes, and this doesn’t stop me from buying books!! Although I try to get them from the library if they have the book on CD.
on April 19th, 2008 at 6:14 pm