As librarians, sometimes we are allowed to be goofy and outrageous and people don’t necessarily think it’s strange. Every year we delight children with our zany puppet characters, such as Brittney Steers and N’Stink. Story hour often finds me waddling like a duck in some of our stories. No one has every looked at me with disapproving stares. That’s the beauty of children. They haven’t quite figured out that you have to act a certain way; they are just enjoying life and laughing. I love fall story hour. We have a story hour all about sound and color and we go outside and walk around the block where I have piled some bright colored leaves that have fallen. The children sit in them and throw them about. We discuss how the leaves sound crunchy and are so orange and red and yellow. Last year, the Japanese beetles were awful and as we sat in the leaves throwing them about, I heard a shrilling scream and then another and then another. It seems the girls of the class weren’t too fond of the flying insects as the boys were smashing them with their hands. Four-year-olds are full of surprises. After our story hour artwork is complete, I usually hang them up for a week for library patrons to see. After announcing this to the kids, one child slowly walked up and whispered to me, "I would appreciate if you didn’t hang mine up."Story hour lasts for six weeks and you will always find me shedding a tear or two on the last day. I tell my kids not to cry too much when they leave, which makes them giggle even more.Adults on the other hand make me nervous. I thought it would be a good idea to audition for GEP’s "Steel Magnolias." Now, as opening night is approaching, I am not so sure it was a good idea. I guess I will just have to use the old, "imagine the audience in their underwear" trick. I hope it works. Don’t forget your tickets.Next week, Nov. 17-23, is Children’s Book Week. We have lots going on at the library.Monday Nov. 17: 4 to 6 p.m. Children’s room open house. Tuesday Nov. 18: 10 to 10:30 a.m. 1-, 2-, 3-year-old story time. Wednesday Nov. 19: Accelerated reader day. Lots of kids are looking for accelerated reader books. The library will have them all on display and the librarians will be on hand to help you find reading levels.Thursday Nov. 20: Preschool story hour for 4- and 5-year-olds.Fine amnesty week, Nov. 17-23. We will waive fines for children this week with an outlandish excuse of course. "An alien took my book." My dog ate it." "It got legs and crawled under my bed."Come celebrate children’s books at the Rock County Community Library. Come see all the new books for fall, register for prizes all week and get your free book bags and bookmarks.
