Storytimes are coming soon...

I am on a mission.  I am currently working on storytimes for Winter 2018 (seriously, 2018?!?!?!), and I am PSYCHED!!!  I am revamping formats, switching up songs, and adding a game called KABOOM!  It's going to be awesome!  Seeing the success of Old MacDonald Things That Go in Music & Movement this Fall, I am going to continue to do the whole read a little bit of the book each week thing in Winter.  I'm a little nervous because I am going to be using a new book.  Hopefully I won't have a full on toddler/preschool revolt because they were waaaayyyy into Old MacDonald.  The new book was a suggestion by one of my storytime moms.  She raved.  I checked it out.  It's amazeballs.  I would tell you, but I want to keep it a surprise.  One little tidbit though.  It's a twist on classic nursery rhymes.  For preschool storytime, I am still planning on including math activities in the program, although maybe not quite as structured.  Plus I want to open it up to the families and see if they have any stories or suggestions about things that they may be doing at home.  I'm also going to open it up and give the families a little more say in the content of the program.  Years ago at my old branch I came up with a series called You Decide Storytime.  I had asked families for suggestions for favorite books, favorite songs, favorite games, and other things they would want to see in storytime.  I gathered a cart of books and stack of CDs and pulled all my props, puppets, and accessories out of the closet.  To figure out what we would read, sing, and do we would roll dice, spin wheels, pull things from hats, bags, envelopes, etc.  It was an absolute BLAST!  I've been wanting to do that again for several years now, and I'm thinking it might be something good for SPRING.  So I want to start laying the groundwork during the Winter session.  People really enjoyed being able to share their favorites and come up with new ideas.  I think my families will really love it.  My preschoolers are a very opinionated group who aren't afraid to share!  I need to use that to my advantage!

Fun and exciting things are on the horizon in 2018!  Woohoo!

How in the world is it December 14th?!?!?!

I'm currently sitting the the local elementary school library on a break in between class visits and catching up on things.  It has been a whirlwind of a Fall.  I have been going nonstop, super busy, and always working on something for the library.  This year has been an absolute blur, but it has been my best, most favorite year as a librarian yet!  I have had so many wonderful opportunities to get to know kids at my library and at the local schools and really learn about their interests and their goals.  I literally just spent a good 15-20 minutes talking with an amazing 5th grader who loves books and wants to be a children's librarian when she grows up.  It was one of those moments that totally confirmed, yep this is why I do what I do.  This is what I was meant to do in my life.  My heart is smiling.  I'm going to be working on an end of the year recap post soon, and I already can't wait to see what's in store in 2018.