Bad Parent, Dork, or Both?
I had the best time last night! Sonja and I went to a Family Book Club at the Falls of Schuylkill Branch @ 3501 Midvale Avenue. I only found out about the book club the day before and was unfamiliar with the book Bunnicula. I thought we could read it a few hours before the meeting, but it's a chapter book, so that was out of the picture. We just sat and enjoyed the conversation, which was really engaging with these 1st - 3rd graders. The childrens libririan (who was uber nice and reminded me of stregapez) got us signed up in the young readers program and had us check out this picture book that all the kids are using to write creative stories. This book is AWESOME! I think I'm going to buy it as Sonja can grow with it as she gets older...and I think it would be kind of cool to do some writing based on the pictures. To me they had a kind of horror feel to them, but mabye I'm just a dark person or am currently in a dark mood. It will be interesting to see how Sonja views the pictures and what stories she comes up with. The book is The Mysteries of Harris Burdick by Chris Van Allsburg (for some reason LJ is not letting me highlight my text to link to anything: http://www.amazon.com/Mysteries-Harris-Burdick-Portfolio/dp/0395827841/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1248969676&sr=1-1#). Next book, Ramona Quimby, Age 6.
To be honest, I don't goto my locak library because it doesn't feel warm and inviting to me. I don't feel that I could sit there for hours and write and read while Sonja looks through books. It's just a place to get a book and get the heck out. When I walked into this place, not only was it full of locals (my branch is usually dead), but it just felt warm. Maybe it was because it was in the evening, maybe the rain set the tone. I was upset that I didn't bring my laptop to take advantage of their WiFi. I feel that this is a place where I would take Sonja on a regular basis because I want to go myself! Of course now I'm paying attention to the scaled back times (which SUCK but they are open till 8 PM in Monday and Wednesday) I wish there were more hours in the day to go. It's like I'm rediscovering the library all over again. I feel like a dork and I also feel like a bad parent becasue it has taken me 6 years to get Sonja to a library on a regular basis. I plan to go back on Monday after dinner just because....and why not?
So now starts my new relationship with the library as an adult. I remember going with my dad when I was younger, Sunday's after breakfast to the Main Branch's Children's Department and feeling like I was in a wonderland. Even as I got older and was going for research I felt like I was entering something special, just like my dad says he still feels about the location. I want Sonja to feel that way about the main branch and about libraries in general. One of our local branches has this great wooden dinosaur in the children's department that I always thought was so cool! She has YET to see it. I just need to get her loving books like I used to; riding back from the library with my dad feeling like I had treasures sitting on my lap waiting to get in to (my younger sister always had her gajilion books read before we even got home - showoff!)
I don't know, I'm old and lonely and dramatic these days, but last night was a moment for me and I want to go back and take Sonja with me. Maybe next I'll take the leap to going back to school for my MLS (something that I have thought about on and off since graduation). Who knows what doors to new worlds libraries can open.
To be honest, I don't goto my locak library because it doesn't feel warm and inviting to me. I don't feel that I could sit there for hours and write and read while Sonja looks through books. It's just a place to get a book and get the heck out. When I walked into this place, not only was it full of locals (my branch is usually dead), but it just felt warm. Maybe it was because it was in the evening, maybe the rain set the tone. I was upset that I didn't bring my laptop to take advantage of their WiFi. I feel that this is a place where I would take Sonja on a regular basis because I want to go myself! Of course now I'm paying attention to the scaled back times (which SUCK but they are open till 8 PM in Monday and Wednesday) I wish there were more hours in the day to go. It's like I'm rediscovering the library all over again. I feel like a dork and I also feel like a bad parent becasue it has taken me 6 years to get Sonja to a library on a regular basis. I plan to go back on Monday after dinner just because....and why not?
So now starts my new relationship with the library as an adult. I remember going with my dad when I was younger, Sunday's after breakfast to the Main Branch's Children's Department and feeling like I was in a wonderland. Even as I got older and was going for research I felt like I was entering something special, just like my dad says he still feels about the location. I want Sonja to feel that way about the main branch and about libraries in general. One of our local branches has this great wooden dinosaur in the children's department that I always thought was so cool! She has YET to see it. I just need to get her loving books like I used to; riding back from the library with my dad feeling like I had treasures sitting on my lap waiting to get in to (my younger sister always had her gajilion books read before we even got home - showoff!)
I don't know, I'm old and lonely and dramatic these days, but last night was a moment for me and I want to go back and take Sonja with me. Maybe next I'll take the leap to going back to school for my MLS (something that I have thought about on and off since graduation). Who knows what doors to new worlds libraries can open.