Sturdy for Common Things

First Month: Here We Go

Less than a week after moving to Chattanooga (with a rendezvous family wedding in Michigan miraculously pulled off in between) I started my first day of work. It was a Monday. My husband drove me to work with both kids in the back. It was my first time going back to work since having Mira, so I was feeling a bit sad about leaving them and also excited for everything the day held. “Here we go!”I said more to myself than anyone as I hopped out of the car and kissed my family goodbye. That morning, I was asked if I would help host a maker party for the mayor in celebration of National Maker Day on The 4th Floor on Wednesday.

And that happened.

 

On Thursday, a handful of us at CPL met with Etsy and the local Etsy community, Etsynooga, to talk about how the library can assist in their efforts as small business owners and craftspeople.

My first week pretty much sums up what it’s been like working at Chattanooga Public Library this past month.

A lot happens. Fast.

The next week, I opened up the shades as wide as the would go in the Kids Room and looked at the space with fresh eyes. I’ve been talking with the people who visit and doing my best at digesting everything that comes my way. Justin, my manager, is my translator and cheerleader.

As a way to introduce and immerse myself, I started doing Spontaneous Storytime. When I have a spare moment, I wear a sign around that says, “Ask me to read you a story!” The moments have been sporadic with so much going on lately, but every time I wear the sign a child or caregiver takes me up on the offer. To be continued.

Sure I have times I miss my friends. I doubt myself. I miss being home with my kids. I feel like THIS on occasion.

But then I have days that I feel confident and gutsy and more at ease in my new library home.

Our End of Summer Party, wrapping up CPL’s Make.Play.Read.Learn program, was a hit. Hundreds of patrons came out to visit the Downtown Library’s 2nd Floor. On the tween/teen side, there was a full out “Fancore Finale” with cosplay, My Little Pony, Disney, Tim Burton… All the good things run by Megan and Jessie. The Kids Room had science experiments, games, a dance party disco with the Frozen soundtrack on repeat, a “Make a Thingamajig” table with various recycle items, among many other fun and engaging activities.

I organized a “Spin Art” station, which included record player art (an idea I borrowed from my daughter’s former preschool in Lawrence) and salad spinner art (a tried and true favorite project).

With summer in the rear view mirror I’m finally able to start digging into the programming goals I hope to implement. The other day I covered for my coworker’s Lego Club at the last minute. I started having the kids dictate their stories of what they were making to me. I have done this with my daughter for awhile now and my co-conspirator and library soul sister, the brilliant Cate Levinson (Storytiming) has been doing something similar in her library. As I wrote down these imaginative narrations, magic happened. The kids who were playing individually, started playing as one, blending their stories into one.  In that moment, I felt connected to my young patrons and full of possibility. A librarian I very much look up to said something I think about every day at work. She said, “Start with the community and their points of need and let that guide the agenda.”

Here we go.

An Ode to LFK

My intention was to write this before leaving, but as many of you know… When you move NOTHING ever goes according to plan. And once you get to where you are going, it takes awhile to find your footing. We moved in early June to Chattanooga and this is me finally sitting down to write my farewell to Lawrence. Or as so many of us from the area endearingly refer to it, LFK.

What I  will miss…

The people

The best part of Lawrence. Hands down. Compassionate, creative, laid back, and proud of where they are from. We fell in love with our friends here.

Summertime in Lawrence

When the students leave town for the summer and the dust settles, the townies come out full-throttle. The Annual Sidewalk Sale mob scene, Tad’s shaved ice, Play Days at The Replay, cooling off at the Wading Pool in South Park, the farmer’s market, Wednesday evening music in the park, cold ginger beer from the new soda shop… It’s my favorite time of the year in Lawrence.

 

Alley Walking

Locals walk the alleys to get to where they are going. It’s our own secret passage to get to where we are going without having to mingle with the “other folks”.

Free State Beer

Oldest brewery in Kansas. Best beer ever. Hands down.

This Sunflower Field 

The anticipation of waiting for that perfect day in September when Gritner Farm’s sunflower field is in bloom.

The Local Bookstores & Literary Scene

Lawrence has an awesome presence of indie bookstores. The Raven, The Dusty Bookshelf, Signs of Life, The Toy Store, Astrokitty… All stellar in their own right. My buddy Rachel wrote a great article a month ago for Bookriot about the literary scene in Lawrence.

East Lawrence

My hood. Where people prefer dandelions and chickens running around to neatly mowed yards. This pretty much sums up East Lawrence.

The Museums

For being a town of  a little under 90,000 residents, Lawrence sure does have a lot of awesome museums. The Lawrence Arts Center, The Watkins Museum of History, The Spenser Art Museum, The KU Natural History Museum are just a few of the favorites we’d often visit on cold or rainy days.

 

Mass Street Culture

This could probably be an umbrella for a lot of the above. But I’m going to list it here anyway. Mass Street is the heart of Lawrence. Everything you need is in several blocks and neighboring streets. Liberty Hall, the Pig, Love Garden, AstroKitty, 715, The Toy Store, The Sandbar, stellar bookstores, The MUSIC! The ART! All of it! I could drink it up in one big gulp!

 

The Basketball

The place where college basketball was born. The energy that fills the air in February and March (and let’s be real, October, November, December, January too). Rockchalk Jayhawk.

The Library

This goes up with the first category of “the people”. There are some really incredible people with good hearts that work in this joint. I’ve been cheerleading from a distance as the remodel comes to a close and Lawrence Public Library will welcome the community back into it’s building for the first time in a couple years. I wish I could be there to see the patrons’ faces. Good luck to you all on the new venture! Not a day goes by that I don’t think of you or the library families that are so incredibly supportive.

I will end this by quoting Pooh. The Winnie the Pooh. That silly old bear has a way of summing up all my feelings into one thought.

“How lucky I am to have something that makes saying goodbye so hard.”

And the Langston Hughs words that are in front of City Hall:

“We have tomorrow / Bright before us / Like a flame.” 

I love you, LFK.

 

Create and Connect at Your Library

Hi there! I’m here! It’s been a bit of a whirlwind the past few weeks! Moving to Tennessee,  family wedding, new job, first time getting back to work after having a baby… The whole kit and caboodle. There will be catch up time here on the blog in the future, but for now a brief post. I had the absolute pleasure of speaking in Vegas at the ALA Annual Conference with Library as Incubator Project and Jessica Pigza, author of Bibliocraft, for our session about book inspired art programs in the library, Create & Connect @ your library. The fine folks at LAIP and Jessica Pigza are pure gold when it comes to inspiration, and I find them to be such incredible resources. During the session I shared a bit about my Pages to Projects initiative to introduce kids to art through picture books and projects, and I have included the slides from my part during that session here. For those of you who were there, thank you so much for the conversation and kind words. It was wonderful meeting so many fabulous folks! Library people are the best.
 

 

Art for Babies

In the midst of the moving madness (we’re move to Chattanooga this weekend!), the girls and I were able to sneak in some art exploration time highlighted in the latest Library as Incubator Project post featuring 3 DIY Art Sensory Bags for babies as well as a fun little art rhyme I wrote paired with famous works of art.

Read the full post here: Art for Babies

Check out the Pages to Projects pinboard, which includes other artsy sensory and/or tactile activities for littles!

It’s never to early to start exploring!

 

Review: This Book Was a Tree

 

This Book Was a Tree

by Marcie Chambers Cuff

Find it at Your:  Local Library | Local Bookstore

Published: Perigee (imprint of Penguin Group), April 1, 2014

In a Nutshell: This Book Was a Tree: Ideas, Adventures, and Inspiration for Rediscovering the Natural World is science teacher and blogger Marcie Chambers Cuff’s invitation to us all to (re)connect to nature through projects, science, and reflection. When I first started reading this book, I became instantly hooked when I saw phrases such as “explore more”, “think like a scientist”, and “try this”. As someone that works with kids in a public library, this book instantly became a tool of inspiration for future library programming for all-ages. You can find many passive programming prompts for families, as well as ideas for individual programs or even an entire series devoted to connecting with nature through projects and activities. Many of the craft projects such as building a pinhole camera, starting a flower press, or building a bee coop can be achieved by late elementary school-age/middle school-age children and older. Some might need adult supervision or assistance, but many of the projects can also be modified for younger children to complete independently. Activities such as stargazing, exploring, camping in the backyard (even if it’s only for a few hours), agreeing to spend “x” amount of time outside a day, journaling, and collecting can be done with kids as young as preschool-age.  What I love most of all is This Book Was a Tree is that it reminds the reader to revel in the natural world and to take time to be outside, continually exploring it. I truly believe learning about science starts with venturing outside. As Carl Sagan once said, “Every kid starts out as a natural-born scientist, and then we beat it out of them. A few trickle through the system with their wonder and enthusiasm for science intact.” And have I mentioned all the sketches are all the author’s own creations? Take a peek:

Extras:

Visit Marcie on her website HERE

And on her blog HERE

A few book club ideas.

And this video:

 

Source of Book Reviewed: Review copy provided by the good folks at Penguin.