Saturday 7 July 2012

Y4 - 281/365: Extra! Extra! Read All About It!



Right. Round two in an attempt to make a library run. Today we even brought the books that Ryan had checked out previous. They kept coming up for renewal and although you can renew a book up to 12 times, we thought 5-6 months with them was enough. So it was time for a change.

As we walked toward the Blackheath High Street Ryan shouted, "Mommy, I see it!"

Yep, in all its "massive" glory with ominous grey clouds in the distance, there stood our local library.

But I played dumb...

"What do you see, Ryan?" I asked.

"I see da wyyy!" he exclaimed again.


As we got closer, I asked what he wanted to get at the library and he informed me he wanted a book about dinosaurs. And so our mission was laid out: obtain book about dinosaurs.

Now, to walk up to this sight, one might think "SCORE, a huge library," but I may as well deflate your excitement now, bookworms...

This library, in all its newfound technological, self-serve glory...is pants.

I remember when this was being built, shortly after we moved to the area. The original library was at the bottom of our road and while extremely dinky then, it was so convenient. I thought when I saw the plans for the new one, that boasted "a separate section for teens," it was going to be spectacular with two whole floors of books!

But no.

The library is all contained on the ground floor with the first floor belonging to the Black Country Housing Group.

Sure, it's an improvement from what it was...but clearly my expectations were too high. I had just come from living in Small-Town, USA and even THEIR library was bigger on their one floor. Makes me miss the Grandview Library in Grandview Heights, Ohio and the Columbus Metropolitan...oh what a bustling metropolis THAT place is!

::sigh::


Well, nevermind. The important bit is that, while nearly impossible to search in the children's section as the books are not in any particular alphabetical order (and the smaller/toddler books are mixed in with the likes of the pre-teen chapter books), we eventually found Ryan a fiction story with a dinosaur, along with some other non-fiction selections about dolphins and lions, and of course, some board books.

Also, let it be known that Ryan, at just 2 1/2 years old, is now an "official" member of the library and has received a very posh-titled library card. He was over the moon when I told him he could scan his card and check his books out on his own.

Not long after returning home, Ryan wanted to look at his dolphin book. I wasn't sure if it would grab his attention the way a fiction book would, but he absolutely loved the photographs and it didn't take many times reading and paraphrasing the book for him to be able to tell me what was happening in the photos.

Good lad. As long as he loves reading like his Mommy & Daddy!!

No comments: