Wednesday, October 24, 2012

Children's lit

When I was 16, I got my first real job as a page at the local library. (I know, I know. Page, books. Funny!) It was a great job, really, because there was no food involved, no folding, no lunchtime crowds. When my parents first talked to me about getting a job, I told them in no uncertain terms that I would NOT work at a place where fried food was served. That grease will lie stagnant in the air and sink right into your pores. (It's true. I read it.) I wanted to make some pocket money, but I was NOT willing to trade my clear complexion to get it.

So the library it was. It was just part-time during the week after school and the monthly Saturday from 9-5 that I had to sacrifice. I'm so glad I made that choice, too, particularly because of the best friend that grew out of that job. :) Michelle and I were already acquaintances from school, and had been since we were 10 years old, but it wasn't until our time together working at the library that our friendship achieved "best" status. Those lonely, boring Saturdays stuck at the library became a hell of a lot more fun with a friend around.

Besides, I've always loved the library anyway. It's probably the only time that anyone will appreciate an old, dusty, musty smell. You never hear about people feeling all warm and fuzzy inside when they go to dig out the old Halloween decorations out of the attic.

Recently, the opportunity to volunteer at the kids' elementary school library presented itself. Now with both kids in school full-time, I have a lot more time to do stuff like this. When it was just Alexander in school, I always had Colette in tow and therefore wasn't able to volunteer to be his class parent, chaperone field trips, and the like. So when the school year began, I became inundated with forms and paperwork from the school. Overwhelmed by my choices and unsure as to what and how much I wanted to take on, I lay frozen with indecision until an acquaintance from the school, who also happened to be the library volunteer coordinator, e-mailed me to see if I wanted to offer up some of my time.

I remembered fondly my days working at the Moorestown library, working and talking among the shelves of books (ok, so talking would come first in that instance) and thought it might be nice to get back to a kind of working relationship with the library again. My recent ventures into the library are almost always accompanied by two kids and I peruse the stacks for books I think they'd enjoy reading while Colette plays with the bead maze and Alexander seeks out every rodent-care book that has made it into print.

So last Thursday, I had my first day at the school library. I was excited as I'd chosen both kids' library times to volunteer, 40-minute periods on Thursday (Colette) and Friday (Alexander). They knew I'd be there and were even more excited than I was to see me there. When Colette's class arrived, I saw her look around and she spotted me, smiled, waved several times and went and sat down on the floor with the rest of her class. I was surprised (and maybe a tiny bit disappointed) by her self-control.

After their story, the kids were let loose in search of a book. I sat down at the computer table to check books in and out, and before long, a line of giggly, wriggly 5 year-olds had formed. They were so cute and I kept hearing "Hi Colette's mom! Hi Colette's mom!" About halfway through the line, a little boy came up to me holding a book with a very serious look on his face.

"What's your name, buddy?" I asked him and he stared blankly back at me. It was quiet for a moment.

"This is David," the little girl behind him volunteered. "He doesn't talk."

Mmm, ok. I'm going to assume that he does actually talk but typically chooses not to, which was the case during our encounter. "What's your last name?" I asked him tentatively. "Cui?" I read on the computer screen, trying to pronounce it right. He continued to stare at me, no response, so I went ahead and assumed he was the David in question and sent him on his way with his book.

After books were checked out and a brief and unsuccessful lesson in the computer lab, the little ones were once again lined up to go back to their classroom. After a few hugs and kisses, Colette took her place in line. It was at this time that the librarian decided to ask them a few fun questions from her deck of cards.

"Who were the first two groups of people to celebrate Thanksgiving?" she asked the kindergartners. A few hands went up and she began to call names.

"Harry Potter," said the first girl.

"Me and my brudder," said another.

"Me and my sister," answered the next kid.

"Hocus and pocus!" came the final response.

But the funniest of all were the kids who raised their hands but in actuality didn't have an answer. The librarian would call on the child with the raised hand, and when it came their turn to speak, the kid would open their mouth, nothing would come out, and his or her eyes would begin to scan the ceiling and, eventually, glaze over as if turned into a statue, any hint of an idea obviously having vanished from the kid's head as quickly as it had arrived. Those non-responses were my favorite simply because it happened SO MANY TIMES. The librarian was clearly a pro at this and waited no longer than about 3 seconds to see if the answer was anywhere in the front of the child's brain before seamlessly moving on.

The next day was Alexander's class. He showed more restraint than I thought he would too, which was a good thing, because I didn't want to get head-butted or knocked over in the middle of the school library. I told the kids at dinner the night before how all of Colette's friends kept calling me "Colette's mom" at every turn, which they thought was hilarious. So the next day, Alexander informed me that he told his classmates not to call me Alex's mom but rather "Diane." He seemed a bit confused when I told him I didn't want a bunch of 7 year-olds calling me by my first name, although I did appreciate the thought behind it.

After the librarian gave her lesson for the day, Alexander immediately summoned me to help him find more books about rodent care. I really don't think there are any books left on how to care for gerbils, hamsters, mice or ferrets that he hasn't read yet, but I helped him anyway. And when a classmate of his asked me for a book about bunnies, I was pleased that I could actually assist her... since they were located right next to the rodent books.

The older group was a bit easier as they weren't all throwing books at me or talking all at the same time... plus they could point out their first and last names to me on the computer if need be. (Not to mention there were no mutes in this class, which makes things immeasurably easier.)

It was a fun experience with both of them. It won't be weekly but I'll look forward to the days when I get to help out and see them in a class-like setting. I also like to think that it was a bright spot in both of their days to see me at school and get a quick hug before getting back to work. I know that feeling won't last forever, and one day they'll be ducking behind stacks of books instead of smiling and waving, so I'll take advantage of it while I can.