Posted By Vonna on September 14, 2009

3D graphics I made for the school library

One of the things I most enjoyed about my child’s elementary school was having an opportunity to work in the school library. My son attended the same school from Kindergarten through fifth grade, and I volunteered in the library for all those years.

When he started Kindergarten I was totally gung-ho. I rushed to sign up for room mother and was shocked to discover that I didn’t have much competition. I organized the Hundred Days, Winter, and Valentine parties, and jig-sawed wooden yard signs for the children to paint for the school auction. I brought extra costumes for the Fairytale Parade, ran off photocopies, laminated items for the teacher, and read for Friday story time in the classroom. Once a month (I would have done it more, but I didn’t want to look greedy) I created a craft for the children to make after story time, times twenty-five. Never satisfied with the district’s readily available die-cut images and other craft materials, I designed and hand cut the components for the children to assemble.

And I worked in the library. Month after month I wore out the knees of my jeans as I scooted along the floor re-shelving books. Sometimes I got bogged down when I came across a book I remembered from my childhood. I had to stop and read a bit—just a few pages. At first.

Before long I was checking books out on my son’s account. But now I wanted to see the new stuff. Big surprise—the world of kids’ books has changed in the past thirty-five to forty years! And unlike the small, stale library at the elementary school that I attended which had one wall 12 feet long by 5 feet high of fiction, this one had row after row, plus an enormous section just for picture books.

I found so many wonderful new books to love. But the best thing about working at the library was getting to know the children. I became a familiar face to them; they associated me with funny books and interesting crafts. At library time, they would bring books to me and excitedly tell me about them.

Yesterday I went to my son’s new middle school and introduced myself to the librarian. I’m looking forward to working there, meeting new kids and perusing a whole new selection of great books. But I was afraid that I’d miss the open enthusiasm of elementary school children. You know how middle school kids are! (Or so I’ve heard.)

But after my son’s first visit to the new library he triumphantly showed me the two books he had selected—both boy-centered fantasy adventures. As a voracious reader, it had been so long since he had found anything new in the elementary library that appealed to him. If the other kids’ enthusiasm matches his, it’s going to be a great three years.

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