The Midnight Library

I know that I am among friends when I relay the following story.  When I was young, I entertained the idea of many other careers (dolphin trainer was one of my more creative ideas).  But there was really no question that being a librarian was a career near to my heart.  I vividly remember the closet I shared with my little sister.  There were bookshelves inside that I kept in order, along with my very own card catalog.  I wish I could remember now how I cataloged each book.  But I knew enough from my experience at our public library to add title, author and a summary to the card for each book.  It was a natural thing for me, to organize and check out my own books.

Once I went to library school, and then began working in public libraries, I discovered that one of my favorite things to do was readers advisory - matching readers and books.  I just loved working with children and hearing what they were interested in.  This sort of conversation as we walked over to the shelves might lead to a whole stack of books as I heard what they had read last, what they liked and didn't like to read, whether they like to read at all, and how long the book was required to be.  All these things would get mixed into my head and come out as title recommendations.  Even better would be the later conversations, when they tried something and liked it, or maybe didn't like it, and could articulate why.  That would lead to more books, more conversations, and on and on, in an incredibly fulfilling loop of relationship between children and books.  In many ways, that is what I continue to do with all of you, my readers.  But it doesn't always feel the same.

 

The little girl in The Midnight Library is of course a girl after my own heart.  Starting in the endpapers, her world is stocked with shelves of books, swaying under their weight.  The books are interspersed with lanterns, an occasional helper owl and a ladder.  It's the sort of place that makes you want to slip in and explore.  Even better, the title page shows the young librarian, with pigtails flying, welcoming a string of library patrons.  Those patrons happen to be animals, but you can sense their excitement from their smiles as they approach.

The story is fairly simple - this library is only open at night, and is staffed by the little girl librarian and the three owls, who dash and fly around at her beck and call.  Animals visit the library in droves, but are respectful of the library as a place to learn. But one night things go a little awry.  A band of squirrels begin to play music in the reading room, and needs to be escorted to an activity room.  Then a wolf begins to cry so much at the plot of her book that the wolf's tears fall like rain (hey, we've all been there!).  Finally, at closing time, a tortoise believes that he shouldn't leave the library until he's finished reading his book...and he only has 500 more pages! We all know how slow tortoises are!  What's a librarian to do?

While I don't agree that the library should always be a quiet place, there are many, many things I love about this book.  First and foremost, I love that she is a young librarian.  It shows us all that children are never too young to love and be advocates for books and reading.  There is always such joy and enthusiasm on the girl's face as she interacts with her patrons.  I love that she is a problem-solver, without judgment.  The wolf is so upset by her story and tells the librarian "' Something very sad happened in my story and I can't read it any more.'"  But the librarian leads the wolf over to a storytelling area, and the read the story together, supporting the wolf until she smiles.  Finally, and what I love most about this story, is that the librarian is a valued and loved member of her community.  This Midnight Library is a community space, where everyone shares their activities and their interests together.  They trust her to be there for all the animals, and to meet them where they are.  The young librarian doesn't yell at the tortoise for trying to finish the long book, she gives him a library card.  She is patient with the noisy squirrels, crying wolf and slow-moving tortoise.  Each of these patrons has very different needs, and she is able to fulfill all of them.

Though the plot of this story is wonderful, I have to admit that it's the illustrations that really do me in.  First of all, the pages are a lovely muted orange - a very unusual choice for a picture book.  But because Kohara uses linocuts for her illustrations, the color choice works very well.  The linocuts involve a lot of heavy dark lines and print, and the orange just stands out perfectly.  And to add to the contrast, Kohara uses a deep blue as an accent.  It helps create the feeling of midnight, and it also makes The Midnight Library feel very charming, cozy and friendly.

The characters in the book are so endearing and warm too.  Because of the linocut technique, they are created with very few lines, but you realize there doesn't need to be a lot of detail to add personality.  The tortoise, eyes almost closed with the effort of reading, weights his page down with his flipper.  Behind him, the owl assistants ring the bell to close the library.  And speaking of the owls!  They are my very favorite part of the book.  The owl assistants are there on every page, hovering over the librarian, stamping and shelving books.  They really are the cutest!!!

I quite often buy children's books about libraries for my own collection.  The Midnight Library is one that I cannot pass up! Celebrate reading with this darling librarian and her wise assistants.

The Midnight Librarian. Kazuno Kohara.  Roaring Brook Press, 2014.

borrowed from the Lewis & Clark Library

The Haunted Library

Haunted libraries sound very cool, don't they?  When I was asked to be part of a blog tour for this series, I was very excited about it.  I worked in several libraries in my career, and I was often in those libraries after closing.  It was always a little creepy, but in a sort of exciting way.  I wondered whether I might catch a glimpse of a ghost.  Sadly, I never did.  But with the Haunted Library series by Dori Hillestad Butler, readers can explore a haunted library in a safe, fun way.  Frances and Gloria haven't been able to keep their hands off this easy chapter book series since they arrived!

Interestingly enough, this series doesn't actually begin in a library.  Kaz, the nine year old ghost who is the focus of this series, is haunting a school with his family.  There are a few problems, though.  Kaz doesn't like to do some of the things that most ghosts do automatically.  He hates trying to pass through walls (it made him feel skizzy, or sick, the only time he tried), he can't glow or wail (which is the way ghosts allow people to see or hear them).  And he is desperately afraid of the Outside, where you can't control where the wind takes you.  His brother and grandparents had been sucked into the Outside and were now lost to them.

So without basic ghost skills, Kaz is really in trouble when the schoolhouse is demolished and the wind sucks him Outside.  Even worse, he is sucked in a different direction than the rest of his family.  He's left alone.  But then he blows into the window of a house, and it turns out to be the library of the title.  Kaz soon meets up with Claire, a young girl who lives upstairs from the library (how cool is that?).  Her grandma Karen is the librarian, and her parents run a detective agency.  And to Kaz's surprise, the library is already haunted.  An even bigger surprise - Claire can see Kaz!

I want to not do too much summarizing of the plots of the stories, although I'll have to describe some points as I review.  I read both The Haunted Library, which begins the series, and The Ghost in the Attic, which is Book Two.  Book Three (The Ghost Backstage) will be available in November.  These books are each about 125 pages, with lots of illustrations throughout.  They are perfect easy chapter books for 2nd through 4th graders.  They look interesting and accessible and will be great additions to any collections.

Part of what I like about these books so much is Kaz himself.  Yes, he's a ghost, but first and foremost, he is a young boy.  There is no mention of what happened to cause Kaz and his family to become ghosts - they are really like any other family.  There are just a few other restrictions.  And once Kaz is separated from his family, you see that he longs for them, just like any other 9 year old would.  And I think that is very comforting in an odd way.  Even though he's a ghost, Kaz actually behaves like many children would in the same situation.  There is nothing scary about Kaz at all, and he is very relatable.  So it's a fun way for young readers to explore ghosts without being scared.

Another thing I like about this series so far is that the "hauntings" are very explainable, which I think makes them more understandable to young readers.  My interactions with elementary school readers is that it is primarily older grade students who enjoy reading something that is scary and has no explanation.  New readers want there to be an explanation that makes sense in the end.  And both of these hauntings are explained in enough detail to satisfy them.

Kaz and Claire decide to form their own ghost detective agency, because Claire's parents won't let her participate in theirs.  Claire can see Kaz, but no other human (Kaz calls them solids) can.  So Kaz can go along with Claire on cases.  But the two immediately run into a problem - we've already seen that Kaz doesn't like to go Outside.  So Kaz and Claire problem solve - Claire ends up carrying Kaz around in a plastic water bottle.  It's a perfect situation which allows Kaz to explore his surroundings without risking being blown away.  Kaz is particularly taken with cell phones!  I love how Claire and Kaz work together as a team - it's a great friendship.

The illustrations are perfect for this series.  They are slightly cartoonish without being silly.  Claire, Kaz, and all the other characters look animated and full of personality.  The illustrations vary in size, too, which keeps readers moving through the text at a rapid pace.  It keeps chapters or even blocks of text from feeling too long or cumbersome for a reader who is just tackling their first real chapter books.

There is much more I could say about these books, but I will save it for my next review.  I am definitely going to request Book #3 for review.  I'll also report back on what Frances and Gloria think about these books.

Thanks again to Dori Hillestad Butler for appearing.  For other stops on the Haunted Library Blog Tour please check http://www.kidswriter.com/blog/.

The Haunted Library.  Dori Hillestad Butler.  Grosset & Dunlap, 2014.

The Haunted Library: The Ghost in the Attic.  Dori Hillestad Butler.  Grosset & Dunlap, 2014.

Our Library

I've written here before about our visits to the local public library.  While I check out picture books and nonfiction that appeal to me, Frances and Gloria also check out books, puppets, book & CD kits, and DVD's that they select themselves.  Frequently, Gloria selects the same board books over and over again, even at four years old.  And sometimes their selection is one we read dutifully and ship right back to the library.  But every once in a while, one of their selections really surprises me.  For instance, Gloria's choice of It's a Little Book was a happy find.  I also wrote about her choice of Ooh La La Polka Dot Boots here.  When Gloria chose Our Library a few weeks ago, I thought it would be a sweet read, considering how much we love the library.  I had no idea how impactful this book would be for me personally.

This book begins with Miss Goose, the librarian, telling a group of young animals that the library is going to close.  The animals can't believe it, and when they ask why, Miss Goose tells them that the building is too old and need a new roof.  The group of animal children thinks hard, checks out books on making a new roof, roll up their sleeves, and get to work.  But then Miss Goose tells them that the library needs money.  And the group does the same thing - check out a book.  Then "we read by day, and we read by night." (p. 9).  They find a way to earn money.  Then the library must be moved to a new location.  But instead of throwing up their hands (paws?) and giving up, the animals check out a book and figure out how to get the job done.  Their final hurdle is a substantial one, but these library lovers can tackle that, too.  And when they are finished, the library is a richer place - not only for their efforts, but for their love and belief in the library.

Eve Bunting shows library advocacy at its most primal in this story.  Not only does this book show young readers a group of their peers working for something they believe in, but she also shows them working together for a common goal.  These library lovers want their library to survive, and as young as they are, they are willing to learn any skill to save it.  I also love that a huge part of their advocacy plan includes learning these skills at the library itself.  They quite literally would not be able to achieve this goal without the library.  In a way, the library saves itself through its information.

It goes without saying that I am a library lover.  Ever since I was old enough to sign my name on the paper card, I have been a prolific library user.  I have always seen libraries as a place of refuge, information, and kindred spirits.  I grew up using a small county library in San Diego, where the librarians all knew me, and saved the children's discards for my own personal collection (I still have a few!).  Once I became a librarian, I moved from community to community precisely to provide services to children and teens.  It has always been a job I loved, a job where I felt I could make a difference, a job where I could change lives.  My final children's librarian job was in Glendale, Arizona, as the Youth and Teen Services Coordinator at the Glendale Public Library.  I worked there for five years.  At that time, it was an amazing system, with a huge emphasis on welcoming the patrons who will impact services in an ongoing way - young people.  Glendale was a place I was proud to work for, with incredibly talented, enthusiastic librarians in every department in every branch.

You may have heard stories of what has been happening in the Glendale libraries, but it is nauseating and dizzying.  Even before I left Glendale, as the economy spiraled downward, services were being cut left and right.  I should say that this blog post is, of course, my own interpretation of these events, but it has also been reported by the media.  Look at articles from this past year here, here, here, and here.  Cuts continued to happen as the City Council took money from every possible part of the budget to support the sports complex that had built right before the recession hit.  Then the real shock - it was announced that the libraries might lose hours, materials, programming, librarians and possibly even close buildings to help make up an enormous budget shortfall.  This happened to other departments within the city of Glendale as well, but what was most important to me were the libraries.

But something happened in Glendale.  There had always been a very vibrant teen volunteer group in our libraries.  In fact, as services, hours and staff had been cut, our teen volunteers had done more and more work to help continue to provide quality services to patrons.  And when the news hit that their library would be dreadfully impacted, these teenagers (none older than 18 when this began) stood up and said they would not let this happen.  They formed a group - called Save the Glendale Public Libraries and they bounded into action.  These teens were patrons I knew very well - they used the library on an almost daily basis.  Some of them even want to become librarians themselves.  They intuitively knew library advocacy, and started attending the City Council meetings, speaking eloquently in protest of the cuts.  They handed out flyers in front of the libraries and informed Glendale citizens of the service cuts and how this would impact their lives.  Of course, these cuts didn't just affect children's and teen services.  They affected job seekers, information retrieval, patrons who rely on the library for medical research, the latest news or even air conditioning when there is no respite.  These teenagers spoke up.  I have quite possibly never been as proud as I was of these teens.

And they turned the tide of the discussion.  Voters came out and voted against the proposed cuts.  But sadly, just because these teenagers won the battle doesn't mean they won the war.  The libraries continue to operate on very tight budgets, and the librarians feel so uncertain that they are leaving and not being replaced.  All of their skills, enthusiasm and ideas cannot be replaced.

But this is a story about library advocacy.  I haven't even talked about the sweet illustrations and the perfect ending in the book, because in reality it doesn't always work that way.  It's why I believe a book like this is so crucial in communities.  A library is a privilege, not a right.  It is an incredible gift, and it should always be treated that way.  Celebrate your library.  Go in and say thank you and articulate how important it is to you.  Go in and say what you think should be changed, too - that is also part of library advocacy.  But stand up for your library before it stands empty because no one fought for it.  I am so grateful that Gloria brought this book home.

Our Library.  Eve Bunting; illustrated by Maggie Smith.  Clarion Books, 2008.

borrowed from Lewis & Clark Library