Hi everyone, I hope you all enjoyed this month’s posts. This last week’s post is one I thought of late at night. Yes, as the title suggests this will be a post on funny or quirky things I’ve heard or seen around in the libraries I’ve worked in over the years. Yes, it would be telling tales, but then, where else would you expect to find any??
In the library of course, or around the shelves!! Yes I know it’s a little bit tacky, but I thought a little bit of humour goes a long way. This particular story I want to start off this set of posts is with one that happened in my first job. My very first job was in a small library, well not that small physically but inside a heritage building. It has been in Auckland for over 100 years now but when I started they were just about to celebrate their centenary. One of my tasks was to tidy up the children’s area after the story time in the morning. And this is where I heard this particular conversation.
So there I was picking up books, tidying the place up a little bit, organizing the toys and there were a couple of mums scattered with some kids. In a corner of the rug were two little girls. I would say they were preschool-aged so like four and two. The older one was sitting on a chair and the little one was on the rug. So then the big sister proceeded to tell her fidgeting little sister “You sit still and I’ll be the librarian” and she took a little board book and started reading. I think it was ‘Where is the green sheep’ but I could be wrong. They looked so cute together. It was then that I wished that I had a camera or video recorder so that I could capture it. And I never forgot this little scenario that I was privileged enough to witness. Seeing how the two sisters could entertain themselves without anyone telling them to stop fidgeting, or give them a toy to play with was such a heartwarming thing for me to see.
Even now after almost twenty years of working in libraries, if I wander down to the children’s area not only do I see kids reading to each other, but I see Mum’s and Dad’s sitting together with their little ones reading a short story or picture book or even a board book to their little toddler. This got me thinking on the importance of reading aloud to each other, not just with children. I mean when you read with a child and engage in a story you are creating not just a bond with the child in the story and forming a love for literature but you are also enhancing specific skills and habits for them. I think it is very important as librarians and teachers that we encourage parents and guardians to read aloud with children. Because as they say when those little ones grow older and they will remember these years when they were little. They will remember how mummy read bedtime stories, or how auntie would read Enid Blyton with them together or how Dad would make all the noises for the pirate fights in a Tintin book.
Reading aloud is not just for bedtime stories anymore. It’s also for adults. I learned this through the program and that I did where I trained to be a Reader Leader and began a shared reading group. Reading aloud as a group of adults engages parts of your brain and enhances your vitality for life and love of literature. Reading aloud helps develop many aspects of your brain development and is fundamental for building connections within your community active and engaged together. This is my belief, this is my take on this aspect of reading aloud and together as a group. You might have a different opinion or experience in your memories. I hope this is sort of a conversation starter for you and your family and friends. If there are any librarians out there I’d love to hear if you have any similar stories.
Stay safe and keep reading
Miss Mahee
Miss Mahee's Library of Reads 