Ministry of Reality Monday: The Library
First of all, the blog carnival: Ministry of Reality Monday. (do we even have blog carnivals anymore? not even sure what to call it. A meme? But anyway, a bunch of my mom peeps are doing it) For those of us who don't always post the shiny and happy on the blog. For more background read here.
So, this my Reality Monday story.
I am a bad citizen. I avoid the public library. By the time I pay the fines I inevitably will incur despite my best efforts, I may as well buy the books on Amazon. I'm trying, though. Determined as ever to turn a new leaf (ha!), I finally got a Free Library (as they are called in the city of Philadelphia) card after having moved into the city in October. Because kids need exposure to libraries.
I, myself, have wonderfully fond memories of going to our library. I think I may have read every book in hte juvenile section. I remember our library trips as being fun. And my mom reading us books, and browsing and browsing through stacks.
So I think, I need to get a library card so that I can my kids to library to browse stacks and read stories. This picture is simple. It seems reasonable. We read stories at home. It's not like they don't get the book thing.
But reality is this: My 2yo, Marlowe, proceeds to grab EVERY book, "mommy! wook!" (that's "look") within about 10 seconds of my locating the juvenile section. My 5yo wants to play on the computer, but I tell him to pick 3 books. He is unsupervised browsing the stacks while I try to reign in Marlowe. All I want to do is read M the Fireman Elmo book, so that he'll calm down for a sec. Ellis picks three books. They look reasonable, though the third one may need a little "retelling." Then they find the DVDs. "mommy!! moomee!!!" (movies) OK! Pick three!! then we're done. No snuggly story times. No leisurely browsing. No ceremoniously presenting the library card. We are so out of there!! 10 minutes. And, I do it for you, dear children. Eventually, I will be less diligent about those darn DVDs, and you will cost me money. I could've just bought it on Amazon.
But this is so their freshman comp teachers won't hate me.
Comments
Ha ha that is so funny. My
Ha ha that is so funny. My kids are the same way. All they care about at the library is the computers and the movies. Books, schmooks, we have those at home!! :) I signed up for a cool free service called Library Elf that sends me an email when things are due - for my kid's cards AND mine. Three days in advance of the due date and every day thereafter, so I can't forget. http://www.libraryelf.com/ I still end up paying fines, but oh well. I could be spending that $ on junk food...
Your library experience looks
Your library experience looks precisely like my library experiences and explains precisely why I don't do the library a whole lot. I had such big dreams about the Library. I love libraries. I never had one growing up. ::sniff:: But I can't do it. Cuz that's what it looks like.
Don't write it off entirely.
Don't write it off entirely. Kids get older and it gets easier. Your happy library memories probably aren't from when you were two-years-old either. :) Ten minutes a month will pay off. My two-year-old only wants to do the puzzles (ie. dump out the pieces and let mommy put them back) but my 6- and 8-yr-old are good browsers (though the boy did have to be told he couldn't use the computer every single time we went to the library for the entire first year.)
Thanks for the library elf link!
I stopped going to the
I stopped going to the preschool story time because of the homeschoolers (which I think is funny because we are officially schooling at home). But the moms would bring their kids who were obviously not preschoolers to the story time and the kids who could read and knew a lot about everything would take over. Our tiny little branch has a tinier kids room and it was always packed out, which it wouldn't have been if it had been only preschoolers. So, we quit going.
Eventually we will get back into the swing of things. Or just make quarterly trips to McKay's where we spend money we would have spent on fines on books we don't have to worry about returning!
For the record and by way of
For the record and by way of encouragement, I'll second Carolyn's advice: Joe was a run-and-grabber at first, too, and we also had to tell him no computer when we went every day (or we could limit it to 10 minutes, which the librarian helped us police). We had an AWESOME children's librarian and staff, and they were very approachable for the kids. Joe got very good at asking for help at our local branch in Rochester, NY, and that improved his browsing because he wanted to show the staff that he could behave like them and look for books. I think you should introduce Ellis to the librarian at the desk; if there's a book he particularly likes, help him ask for another book by the same author or on a similar theme. They'll be able to make a great suggestion, they'll be glad you/he asked, and he'll have made a connection to a Magic Book Lady/Man.
Now, I should also say, that Joe (at 12 years old) has a tendency to read the same type of book over and over, and he doesn't tend to browse beyond that section, currently comic books/graphic novels. He recently got a handful of zombie novels when I pestered him to get text-only books. (I try *never* to say "real books," because graphic novels are very important to him, and I don't want to demean them.) So he's starting to branch out, but it's an uphill battle. I still think it's worth the time and effort to make the library a good experience and a regular part of everyday life.
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