You Just Never Know....

Well, last week I felt very discouraged - not a single child showed for our Monday storytime. When I arrived on Wednesday my supervisor had other tasks for me, so we didn't even try to set up for storytime. As a result I didn't post here last week. I prepared a flier, which we placed around the library announcing the storytimes, hoping that it might generate some interest. Well, it did! This morning I had two kids arrive - for storytime - just before it was time to start, and by the time we started the first book, there were ten! This is one of the largest groups they have had for a storytime at the Base Library!

Our theme was "Summer Fun" and I read four books about summer time activities and we did two fingerplays, sang three beach/summer songs and enjoyed a flannelboard rhyme all about ice cream. It was quite a sight to see ten kids all giggling as we got our wiggles out doing "Head, Shoulders, knees and Toes" In a space that was not much bigger than my living room! The kids were attentive, engaged and even participatory!

The first book we read was:
A Fabulous Fair Alphabet by Debra Frasier

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


This book has amazing illustrations and fully captures all the color and excitement of a day at the fair. The kids studied the pictures and reacted to their favorites (like "C" - cotton candy) As a storytime book, I felt it was a bit flat, in spite of the images. We all decided that using "Zucchini" as the last item was somehow wrong...and even the kids expected the last image to be sleeping children driving home with "Z's" circling their heads..."X" stood for exit, after all, and to follow that by Zucchini....well....

We sang about a chocolate ice cream cone (Tune: "Baby Bumble Bee") and then got out a felt ice cream cone and said a rhyme and counted the scoops. Then it was on to

Sheep Take A Hike by Nancy Shaw

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Nancy Shaw's sheep are such fun! This one didn't engage the children quite as well as her "Sheep in a Jeep" but the kids loved the illustrations and the rhyming text of this great hiking adventure where the sheep must deal with loss of a compass, getting lost and having to be rescued from the mud by a moose! I made up a song about taking a summer hike (Tune: "Here We Go Round the Mulberry Bush") which we sang after this book.


The last two books and songs and a fingerplay was all about one of my favorite summer activities...a visit to the beach:

Sea, Sand, Me! by Patricia Hubbell

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


We all loved this beautifully illustrated book about a young girl's visit to the beach told in rhyme. It was great fun to read. The rhythm makes this a great read aloud and girl and her new friend have a very busy day doing everything you possibly can at the beach!


At the Beach by Anne F. Rockwell

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


Another day of activity at the beach! Lovely illustrations and simple text describes all sorts of beach activities. The kids expected the last page to describe the ride home, but this book only takes the reader through lunch! We followed this with the fingerplay, "Inchy Pinchy Crab" (based on "Itsy Bitsy Spider"), which the kids really enjoyed.

Everyone stayed for coloring sheets and I really enjoyed being able to spend a little time with the kids and their Moms, Oohing and ahhing over their great coloring and learning names. Hopefully, I will be able to build the sense of community that I have found lacking here. At a nearby public library, the storytime is done by volunteers, but they are amazing - it helps that one is a professional storyteller, another a retired teacher and another is a retired librarian. I was able to swap flannel tips with the retired teacher, and have picked up storytelling hints from the storyteller.

While working at one of the local public libraries, I also performed the annual periodical review for the branch, weeded the reference section and explained how to use e-readers and our e-book catalog to an ever increasing number of library patrons. The format may be different, but the desire to access library materials is still very much the same.

A Midsummer Knight's Festival and other parties

Life is interesting when you work have two part-time jobs in two very different library settings. At my military library, this week we celebrated the end of the summer reading program, while in my public library job, I'm still passing out prizes to finishers and chaperoning a "Teen-after- hours-lock-in" this Friday. Until the day comes when I have one full time employer, I will continue to juggle different themes, calendars and patrons!

So, at the military library, this last Monday was the big end-of-SRP-party: Our Midsummer Knight's Festival. We had 40 kids or so, make Prince/Princess swag bags (to collect all their small prizes) and crowns (for the photo opportunities this created) They were entertained by a celtic harpist dressed in Renaissance garb and an abbreviated storytime, a prize drawing and a dragon egg hunt. All of this in just under two hours. Everyone left happy with plenty of swag, a big prize and a crown. It just doesn't get any better for a toddler/preschooler.

We got the kids attention with our usual opening storytime song: "If you Want to Hear A Story" (Tune: "If You're Happy and You Know it") and opened with a Castle fingerplay. We did two other fingerplays with flannel board pieces: "Five Royal Knights" and "Five Green Dragons" sang "The Noble Duke of York" recited "The Queen of Hearts" with flannel board pieces and read the following three books:

Hush, Little Dragon by Boni Ashburn

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

A dragon version of "Hush Little Baby," what could be better? The kids loved the rhyme, the lovely illustrations and the love between the mother dragon and her baby. The warmth and the humor comes through loud and clear and as I closed the book on the lovely last image a number of parents and children let out an "Ahhhh"

Glubbery Gray, the Knight-Eating Beast by Beth Kander

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

The illustrations in this clever, funny counting book are appealing to even the youngest child...and older children like it for creative ways that Glubbery Gray eats one knight after another. The youngest kids had fun counting the ever decreasing band of knights...and the older kids in my audience had fun guessing which knight would be old gray's next victim. Humorous with rhyming rhythmic text this was a great read-aloud with a large group ranging in age from 2 to about 7 as it engaged all of them.

The Egg by M.P. Robertson

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This book was the perfect lead in to our final activity which was a "dragon egg hunt" Ok, so everyone played along and pretended not to notice that our dragon eggs looked suspiciously like plain old plastic easter eggs! This book starts strong and has great illustrations, is funny and sad in places...but as a read aloud, it doesn't flow as smoothly as some of the other books I have read. Maybe the book tries to cover too much in too short a time, but I almost feel like I have skipped a page here and there as the story takes an unexplained jump. Overall, it is great fun when a boy hatches a mysterious egg, which turns out to contain a dragon.

Then, today I was back for the Wednesday storytime - today the theme was "Knights vs. Dragons" and we read "Glubbery Gray" again, did the knight and dragon fingerplays/Flannelboards and sang "I'm a Little Dragon" (Tune: "I'm a Little Teapot"). After we made dragon finger puppets. Once again, the kids reacted to the books, differently than I expected (enjoyed them more than I expected, always a good thing!) and everyone enjoyed themselves. We read:

Do Knights Take Naps? by Kathy Tucker

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

We started with this one, as it provided a great overview of a knight's life, in a way even young kids could relate to. Although the rhyming text was not as tight and rhythmic as I would have liked, the story and pictures were very sweet and informative. The kids enjoyed it more than I thought they would - always a pleasant surprise.

Don't Forget the Knight Light by Tina Gagliardi

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Everyone loved this twist on Knight vs. Dragon - Carly is a dragon with a deep fear of knights. A special "knight light" and an imaginary - human - friend are needed to help her overcome her fear when her class visits the dragon museum with it's dreaded "Knight room."

Dragon Pizzeria by Mary Morgan

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This is a wonderfully creative book, which combines a number of children's favorite things: pizza, dragons and fairytales. When two dragon friends, Bebop (who likes to cook) and Spike (who likes to go fast) open a pizzeria in fairyland, they receive call in orders from such celebrities as the Giant from "Jack and the Beanstalk", the Three Bears, and Hansel and Gretel. The kids loved making the phone ring noise and guessing who was ordering the pizza - like when the order was "three porridge pizzas - one large and very hot, one medium that is cold and one small that is just right." Spike zooms through fairyland making his deliveries using various modes of transportation from hot air balloons to roller skates, which only adds to the fun. The kids loved this book!

This was one week where I felt I really got it right with my storytimes. Kids and parents left happy and everything worked just as it should. I hope I feel the same at the end of Friday's Teen Lock-In. More about that later.

Long May They Reign!

The summer reading program theme for the Department of Defense is "A Midsummer Knight's Read" and so our storytimes this summer have been themed around knights and dragons, royalty and castle life. I received lots of smiles as I walked through the library building wearing a crown purloined from my sons' stash of Halloween costumes and accessories and have read through countless - wonderful - children's books before deciding on specific weekly storytime themes and deciding which books will make the final cut and be read out loud. I have also spent the last several weekends experimenting with creating flannel board figures and working out the stories. I have also discovered the world of felt and flannel available on E-Bay.

So, far it has been a mixed summer for storytime...this Monday morning, no one showed up. Since I am now providing TWO weekly storytimes now, hopefully we'll have a better turn out for Wednesday morning's session. One day, the audience will be several new kids who refuse to sing, the next session will be filled with kids who can't get enough of those fingerplays and songs. I've even had sessions where the kids keep asking for more books!

Anyway the themes have been "A storytime fit for a King...or Queen" and we did a repeat-after-me-chant, "I've Got a Crown on My Head" (hence the purloined crown). Unfortunately, this was for the group of kids that refused to participate, so some of the fun was lost! I also used some beautiful felt royalty puppets to present a felt board version of "The Queen of Hearts" The kids loved it so much that we did it twice. We learned "Old King Cole" and did a fingerplay about a castle, garden and drawbridge. Here is what we read:

Ten Big Toes and a Prince's Nose by Nancy Gow

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This was a great read for a toddler storytime. There are beautiful illustrations that held the kids' attention, a recurring chant to encourage the characters to feel good about who they are and enough humor to make kids smile and laugh. The rhyming text allows the reader to get a good rhythm going, although, curiously, the chant about being yourself is not quite as tight. The kids loved it...we had fun with it and everyone is a sucker for a happy ending!

The Prince Won't Go to Bed! by Dayle Ann Dodds

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This was a great hit at storytime today! Who couldn't love a book with the refrain, "WAA! WAA! WAA! I will not go to bed!" the teeny-tiny, itty-bitty, little Prince said happening every couple of pages? This book was very engaging for many reasons - rich illustrations and subtle humor - as the entire staff of the castle tries to put the Prince to bed. After each attempt, more and more people tip toe down the hall and the Prince's wail just gets louder and louder. There are many opportunities to ask questions of the readers. Questions like, "do you think he is really asleep now?" and "What do you think he is really missing?" In the end, we learn what it is that the Prince really needed to send him off to dreamland and everyone sleeps happily-ever-after.

Over at the Castle by Boni Ashburn

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This was also a great hit with my storytime audience! It is a counting book, it has a mother dragon and her impatient and adorable baby dragon, it has beautifully rich and detailed illustrations. It has a wonderful ending. This provided a great visual for young kids about life in a medieval castle and we had great fun counting and discussing just what the baby dragon was waiting to do.

Round Is a Pancake by Joan Sullivan Baranski

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This book was a great one to end a storytime with. Simple rhyming text - which swirls around the illustrations on each page allowed me to show the book to the youngsters while still finishing the last line of the text. A medieval festival is brightly illustrated and all of the round items are highlighted. We had great fun spotting and naming them, counting them and squealing with joy when we found our favorites...one girl couldn't get enough of the dog faced hot air balloon. This is a marvelous read-aloud!

The following week the theme was fractured fairytales...there are so many great books based on a standard fairytale. Most of them seemed too long and complicated for my young toddler audience. I was able to find some real winners, though. I read one "straight" tale: The Princess and the Pea, having found an older, simple well illustrated version and used some illustrations from an old version of "Rapunzel" to do a felt version of the story - I just couldn't find a version of the story that would be right for this group...so I created my own. I wanted to contrast a traditional telling with my favorite of the "fractured" tales we read today,

Falling For Rapunzel by Leah Wilcox

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This is a marvelous read-aloud laugh-out-loud book. The rhymes and illustrations are hysterically funny and appeal to both the very young and young at heart. It kept the attention of even the youngest in my audience and had every child giggling and pointing. Quite a contrast to the original, even if the telling is adapted for a younger audience. This is a book I will read again for storytime and it will never get old!

Fairly Fairy Tales by Esmé Raji Codell

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This book didn't grab me right away, but by the time I read it at today's storytime, it had grown on my and it was certainly a big hit with my toddler audience. I wasn't sure the text format, ask a couple of questions about a well known fairy tale with answers (Straw? Yes. Sticks? Yes. Bricks? Yes.) and then through in a question that doesn't belong - "Solar Panels?" No. Then say, well, maybe and turn the page for a whole new take on that fairytale - colorfully illustrated and filled with humor. The kids loved it. They had a great time guessing the fairytale, and saying no...and then anticipating the "maybe" version of the story. There was a great response to this creative book. Great giggles and participation!

An Undone Fairy Tale by Ian Lendler

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This was one of my favorite books that we read this week, but it was a little too long and complicated for some of the younger children. As we read this book - too fast - the poor illustrator can't keep up...and the harried publisher begs us to slow down. When we don't, well Ned the illustrator has to improvise, so the handsome prince attempts fight a dragon (who is still in the shower when he arrives) in a tu tu. A creative book filled with mayhem and silliness, probably best read by a school age child who will revel in the asides about what a good, and fast reader he/she is.

On Wednesday, the theme is Knights vs. Dragons. We will be making dragon finger puppets and have both a "Five Royal Knights" and "Five Green Dragons" fingerplay/felt rhyme and will be reading Boni Ashburn's other marvelous dragon book, "Hush Little Dragon" and Tina Gagliardi's "Don't Forget the Knight Light" as well as others. Stay tuned!

Arrrr! Ahoy Mateys!

It has been a couple of weeks since I posted here...because it has been a couple of weeks since I have performed a storytime. But today we came back strong with "It's a Pirate's Life for Me!" We practiced a spot of "Pirate Speak" which helped us sing a special pirate verse of our opening song. Then we launched into

How I Became a Pirate by Melinda Long

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This imaginative book is a great read-aloud if you are comfortable with Pirate-Speak. Captain Braid Beard and his crew have a lot to say and do...and a young boy loves their pirate lifestyle (no vegetables, no baths, no bedtimes) until it is bedtime and there is no one to tuck him in, read him a story, or give him a goodnight kiss - besides he has to get home for soccer practice. David Shannon' illustrations kept the kids eyes glued to the pages and had them laughing out loud.

Pirates, Ho! by Sarah L. Thomson

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

The colorful cast of Pirate characters in this book - which include a GIRL pirate - are brave swashbucklers during the day. Doing as the things that Pirates do. But when darkness falls it is a different story altogether. Told in rhyme, with great illustrations this book delighted the kids at storytime today. We sang "If You're a Pirate and You Know it." (Tune: "If You're Happy and You Know It") and modified the verses to match some of the same pirate activities described in the book.

Pirates Don't Change Diapers by Melinda Long

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This is one sequel that is almost better than the original! In this second Melinda Long/David Shannon pirate book, Jeremy Jacob is visited by his old pirate crew, ready to dig up their treasure. Jeremy's baby sister though has other plans for the pirate crew and they have to change, feed and calm her before they can get to digging. The illustrations are just hysterically funny and the kids today loved them.

Shiver Me Letters: A Pirate ABC by June Sobel

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This was a creative, well illustrated concept book, and the kids really enjoyed the pirates' quest to steal all the letters of the alphabet for their Captain who decides that "R is not enough.......we need other letters to help make us tough." Did I mention that the Captain is a crocodile and the crew consists of a pig, a cat, a rat, and a mouse? The kids loved many things about this book, including the fact that the parrot on the Captain's shoulder wore a pirate hat and that the captain has a duck flotation device around his waist that wears an eyepatch.

Pirates of the Sea! by Brandon Dorman

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I thought this book might be too long for my mostly toddler audience, but I was wrong. The kids loved this book laughing and commenting on the illustrations, especially when among the pirate treasure there was a teddy bear and a pair of purple pirate underwear. Great rhyming book, great illustrations just the right amount of pirate-speak to make this book a great read-aloud that will appeal to all ages.

Peg Leg Peke by Brie Spangler

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This is a charming book about a cute little pekingese with a "boo boo." An unseen companion, helps the little guy imagine that instead of a cute dog with a broken leg, he is an adventurous pirate with a peg leg. With some help, he sails away and finds a treasure which makes him feel better. The illustrations are sweet and the text, told in a Mo Willems' like dialog is engaging and funny.

We closed with a Pirate version of "Row, Row, Row, your boat":

Sail, sail, sail your ship

Gently o'er the sea.

Merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily,

A pirates life for me!

The kids all stayed to color a pirate ship coloring sheet and it was great fun to have some time to interact with the kids and their parents informally. I did however learn that talking like burly, swashbuckling pirates is very hard on the throat and takes a toll on my voice. Even so, this storytime was worth it.

Wild About Books

Recently, I was asked what I thought the best part of my job was. That answer was easy: sharing my passion for books! At this weeks storytime, the stories were all about characters who were passionate about books.

I started this week's session with:

Read It, Don't Eat It! by Ian Schoenherr

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This is the book that I started my "Wild About Books" storytime with...in simple rhyme and charming illustrations, animals teach book/library etiquette. The kids loved this book, even the very young ones. It is very simple, but the drawings of the animals are filled with charm and expression. Followed by the tradional fingerplay, "Here is My Book." The five children at storytime really participated in this one.

The Incredible Book-Eating Boy by Oliver Jeffers

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This is a wonderfully imaginative picture book about Henry, who loves books, "Just not the way you and I do." When I introduced this book, I mentioned that this was about a boy who had not read our first storytime read and or had not followed the advice of "Read it, Don't Eat it." I worried that this would be too much for my age group (11 months to just under 3) but the book held their interest and they were able to follow it. They even picked up on the subtle humor of the last page! This was followed by the singing of "At the Library" to the tune of "Here we Go Round the Mulberry Bush." Next up:

Read to Tiger by S.J. Fore

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This is a wonderful read aloud book. A boy just wants to read his book, but Tiger and his antics prove too distracting. Tiger refers to himself in the third person, so he was fun to create a funny voice for...in addition his antics include great sounds like loud gum chewing "chomps" and karate exclamations. The kids were enchanted by the illustrations and laughed at Tiger's antics. (The boy's book is about a tiger and, in the end, the boys reads the book to Tiger and everyone is happy.)

Dog Loves Books by Louise Yates

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This is an easy to read aloud book about a dog who just wants to share a passion for books. At first things don't go as planned, but then he pulls a book off the shelf and the illustrations vividly depict dog's joy of reading and all the wonderful things we can imagine when we read. Finally, dog has an opportunity to share all of this in the story - which the kids loved.

Book! Book! Book! by Deborah Bruss

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This was my favorite book at Storytime. This illustrations are sweet and there are animals and a library...and animal sounds. What more could you ask for in a read aloud? When the kids go back to school the farm animals are sad and bored and wander off to town in search of something fun to do. They see happy people coming out of the library and so, one by one, they go in and ask the librarian for help. The problem is that she can't understand them, until finally the chicken goes in and clucks, "Book, book, book." Finally, the librarian understands and the happy animals return to the farm to read their books. The kids helped me make all the animal sounds and giggled in all the right places. In honor of this book we did a fingerplay, "Three Little Books" edited from a flannel board story found in Storytime Magic by Kathy MacMillan.

We closed with: It's Library Day by Janet Morgan Stoeke

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This is a simple story about a class visit to the library told in rhyme. I really liked the fact that there was diversity and multiculturalism displayed in the characters. This was a great book for baby/lapsit storytime about books and reading.

Although I didn't read it, I did close with a quote from Rosemary Wells on the end pages of Read to Your Bunny:

The most important thing in the first years of a child’s life is the growth of mind and spirit. Singing, laughing and language are the most important things in a child’s life. Reading to your little ones Is just like putting gold coins in a bank. It will pay you back tenfold!

– Rosemary Wells

Creepy Crawly Storytime

It was all about bugs at Monday's storytime. I read lots of colorful books about bugs - there are some great ones out there. We sang "The Bug Song" and "Have you Ever Seen A Caterpillar?" (from the great King County Public Library site: http://wiki.kcls.org/tellmeastory/index.php/) and we did three or four fingerplays, such as "Here is a Beehive" and "Five Marching Ants." We read:

Diary of a Worm by Doreen Cronin

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

A worm keeping a diary....hysterically funny account of typical worm activities, from dodging hopscotch playing feet and scaring girls on a playground to learning about manners (greeting one ant will tie up an entire day as you must say good morning to the next 600 ants in line as well) to dealing with friends and family. The day he describes eating his homework got the biggest laugh from the group.

Ten Little Ladybugs by Melanie Gerth

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This is a very colorful large board book The rhyming text counts down from ten to one - who flies home. The ladybugs are in 3-d. This is just a fun book for a baby/toddler storytime. I had the kids all using fingers to help with the countdown. Then we did a variation of the action rhyme "Two Little Blackbirds" - turning Jack and Jill sitting on a hill into two little ladybugs. One little girl couldn't wait until I read this book - probably in reaction to the cover with the little plastic ladybugs showing through.

A Frog in the Bog by Karma Wilson

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This is another Karma Wilson read-aloud winner! The rhyming text has a great rhythm, so good for building that phonemic awareness. The illustrations are beautiful and the kids enjoyed the repeated phrase "the frog grew bigger." They also love the surprise at the end, when frog discovers that there is something strange about the log he's been sitting on - and it is a great device to allow all the bugs crammed into the frogs stomach to escape. In the end, no one is eaten and everyone learns a lesson.

I Love Bugs! by Philemon Sturges

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Big colorful illustrations and simple text take fear out of bugs for even the youngest listener. There are plenty of opportunities to get the kids involved in the book, like counting particular bugs on a page. Short, sweet, engaging - this book is a great introduction to the world of bugs.

Clara Caterpillar by Pamela Duncan Edwards

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Really good story about a plain caterpillar who turns into a plain butterfly - who turns into a respected hero. There is a great potential to use fun voices for the eager boy caterpillar in the story and the catty and egotistical Catisha who looks down on Clara and makes mean comments every chance she gets. There are many "c" words used in the story, so it is a good resource for teaching phonemic awareness.

We ended our time together by coloring a ladybug sheet, cutting it out and attaching a craft stick so that the kids could take home their very own Jack or Jill.

Now to decide between "Pirates" and "Books/Reading" as themes for the next storytime adventure....

Another week....

Well. It's been a busy week.

Monday's storytime had only three kids (and two parents!) but we all had a marvelous time. The kids were great, they really participated in the songs and rhymes and interacted in the stories. We read stories about spring gardens and baseball. They included There Is a Bird on Your Head! (Elephant and Piggie) by Mo Willems which worked well for a spring themed storytime. The kids loved the absurdity of having birds build a nest on Elephant's head as well as the personalities of Piggie and Elephant and the interaction between them. We also read Quacky Baseballby Peter Abrahams, Frank Morrison (Illustrator) a story about Thumby Duckling, who is nervous about his first game on the Webbies baseball team. The text can be read in an "announcer" voice, which the kids at storytime enjoyed. At several points in the story, "the crowd goes wild" and the kids and their moms provided the cheering crowd noices. The illustrations are bright andcolorful and the humorous nature of the pictures and text had both moms and kids laughing out loud. Then there was another baseball read: Dino-Baseball by Lisa Wheeler, Barry Gott (Illustrator). Let's face it, kids love dinosaurs and kids love baseball - so they adored this rhyming book about the plant eating dinosaurs of the Green Sox vs the carnivores of the Rib-eye Reds, played at Jurassic Park, of course! With colorful illustrations and lots of baseball action (even a team manager who "throws his hat and kicks home plate...he calls the ump a nasty name and gets ejected from the game.) This is a book that appeals to very young kids because of the rhythm and rhyme, dinosaurplayers and bright, colorful illustrations. Because of the vocabulary and game descriptions it appeals to the adults in the group as well as preschoolers. Overall a verysuccessful storytime!

Our next storytime is a celebration of Moms in honor of Mother's Day. The hardest part, at least so far, is paring down all the wonderful stories for an about Mothers. We'll be reading several for Mothers (such as Five Minute's Peace by Jill Murphy and Seven Hungry Babies by Candace Fleming) and some around Mom's and their babies - human and animal. So many good stories! Next week I will post complete reviews.

In my regular job in the public libraries, I worked at two of my favorite branches and both days were rewarding and uneventful. My greatest victory involved a phone call from an angry, disgruntled patron who I talked through our online catalog. We finally hung up - after 30 minutes or so - with the patron much happier having a much greater understanding of our catalog and how to use it. She felt so good about our phone converstation, in fact, that she made a special trip down to the library the next day to express personal thanks. Of course, being a sub, I wasn't there! But thanks to a wonderful staff member who emailed me, I had the satisfaction of knowing that I had a positive impact on one person's life.