Chatiryworld

'Newborn girl could be youngest library member'

I heartily approve of a two day old baby becoming a library member, I always thought parents were still too shell-shocked after two days to do anything like that.  Via Library Web (UK).

Following on from yesterday's post, note the stupid comment.

Home library

Well here I am linking to the Torygraph, but they have got an interesting article about people creating home libraries.  I look forward to the day we can have a dedicated space for our books.  Via Boing Boing.

On books and children

The Guardian had an article about reading books to children yesterday, asking authors to recall their memories of reading as children, and for their tips.  Getting children into books from birth (ok, a few days later...) is something I feel passionately about and children's events was one of the few things I liked about being a public librarian.

Bookstart, a national initiative to encourage parents to read with their babies and toddlers, is fantastic, I did bits of informal research on it as a librarian and learned about all sorts of interesting local schemes.  Scotland's Biggest Rhymetime takes place in Edinburgh in May and looks to be a great event.

Here are some of my top tips for reading with children.  I am not a parent, but am a big sister to five siblings and friend to many small children, plus I've been a librarian:

• Don't assume babies can only cope with board books, find books with amazing illustrations, even if the story is complex babies will love the images, so you can just concentrate on that
• Recommended ages are just a guide, some young children will sit for hours listening to a story, others need something short, sharp and quick.  If you love the book but are worried it's too old for the child, give it a go anyway (I'm assuming we all have common sense here and aren't going to read Forever to a 5 year old...)
• Books aren't just for bedtime, they are for morning cuddles, quiet times, calming kids down, travelling, waiting, whenever a child wants to read.
• Unfortunately it's sod's law that a favourite book will generally be a crap book.  I didn't understand my mum's reluctance to read Topsy and Tim for the millionth time until I offered to read books to children and they stuck on some twee rubbish.  Try and negotiate to read it every other story, with some decent ones you like in between.  Note the word try though.
• Give books as gifts, children get loads of toys.  Have some fun in a bookshop choosing some amazing books.  Jon and I never do this, no, never...
• I don't particularly like it when people paraphrase a story when reading to children, I think they underestimate the child's understanding.  However I've learned it can be good for impatient children or when a story really is too complex but the illustrations are amazing.

Suggestions for good books?  Again, The Guardian has some tips, but here are some of my favourites:

• The Baby's Catalogue by Janet and Allan Ahlberg  Because babies love looking at pictures of babies
• Is It Bedtime Yet Wibbly Pig? by Mick Inkpen  I never had a strong opinion on these books (well, I liked them) until my friend Emily nearly leaped out of my arms at this book at the age of seven months
• Katie Morag and the Two Grandmothers by Mairi Hedderwick  One granny is all powder and hats, the other wears dungarees and drives a tractor
• We're Going on a Bear Hunt by Michael Rosen and Helen Oxenbury  Extremely popular, for a good reason.  Most children know it from school or nursery and it usually goes down very well, especially if you make up some actions
• The Alfie books by Shirley Hughes  Can't decide which, but they are all lovely
• The Big Big Sea by Martin Waddell  Some people might find it a bit twee but loving the sea, I love it.  Gave it to one of my brothers when he was about a year old and he very much enjoyed 'the big big 'ea'
• Bob Robber and Dancing Jane by Andrew Matthews  Another one some people don't like because they don't understand it, illustrations are amazing though
• Avocado Baby by John Burningham  A family classic from my childhood
• Willy the Wimp by Anthony Brown  See above
  
• That Rabbit Belongs to Emily Brown by Cressida Cowell  Another instant favourite for Emily and an example of not always following the age guides, Emily (friend Emily not book Emily) loves looking at the pictures but at a year old the story is a little complex
• The Mousehole Cat by Antonia Barber  Nicola Barber's illustrations are beautiful, another good seaside story, look out for the animated version
• Pumpkin Soup by Helen Cooper  As used by me at a children's event which nearly caused a family upset, but it all turned out ok.  Funny book, warm pictures

If you love the illustrations that are often an integral part of children's books, have a look at the website of the Kate Greenaway medal where you can find some amazing examples.

Need inspiration for housing your books?  Freshome has 30 examples of quirky and/or creative bookshelves.  Via librarian.net.

The Mitchell Library

Although I still work in information management (amongst other things) I don't tend to blog much about libraries these days as I only tend to come into contact with them as a user.  I keep up to date by reading library blogs but I am no longer a member of CILIP either.

This week I attended a conference at the Mitchell Theatre, based in the Mitchell Library in Glasgow.  I'd never been there before but was aware of it being seen as one of the great libraries in the country.  As I walked in I could see it was one of those places that many public libraries nowadays aspire to be.  Coffee shop, lots of internet terminals, lots of light flooding the area thanks to new large windows.  It looked really good and a place that you'd want to spend time in.  Beyond that was the 'leisure and lifestyle' section which consisted of books, CDs and DVDs to borrow.  Again, it looked modern and welcoming but I was a little concerned about the extent of the stock, there just wasn't much of it.

Doh!  There's more to the Mitchell Library than the coffee shop/Borders-style experience.  Upstairs lie a whole host of further books.  On several floors.  On one of the breaks I went to investigate and found an amazing stock of non-fiction, plus a pretty hideous carpet.  But we can look beyond that when it comes to information quality. 

Back down in the new modern area, free wifi is available PLUS powerpoints to plug your laptop in.  Seriously impressive.  What isn't impressive?  Hard to tell when you're not a regular user but as a vegetarian conference delegate the food isn't great, our old friends grated cheese with mayonnaise sandwiches and raw onion in everything turn up.  Grass Roots is in walking distance though, if you need it.

Something else unimpressive is Edinburgh's main library.  It has a decent lending stock but shuts at 1pm on Saturday and doesn't open again until 10am on Monday.  Although I think it's good for central libraries to be open on a Sunday (perhaps hypocritical of me as I hated the Sunday I worked in Leeds every month) I understand why they may not be, but I do think a central library should be open on a Saturday afternoon.  Especially one in a capital city that is a UNESCO City of Literature and has a major book festival every year.

I may not be a Tolkein fan...

...but I love this little library.  Via Boing Boing.

Dear Santa

Please may I have these?  I think that they are funny.

Love Katherine

That's exactly the reference book I used!

Meet Ms Dewey.  And if I tell you I thought most of my clothes were too good to be worn to work when I was a public librarian, you'll see how accurate her dress is.  (I still looked presentable, just didn't spend lots of money on work clothes as I knew I would either be on the floor or handling mucky books most of the time.)

Via Lifehacker

I could have lasted longer in public libraries...

...if only I had worn an outfit like this.

Still childish after all these years

Maybe it's because I've never quite grown up (who has?), maybe because the only thing I miss about libraries is doing kids activities or maybe because I just love the easy simplicity, but I don't think there's anything wrong with owning children's cookery books and reading a craft weblog. Recipes from children's cookery books also tend to be quite cheap to make as well.

Anyway, the point of this post is to recommend a new blog, Kiddley, all about crafts and creative activities for children. I know lots of you have children (some of you even let me play with them) and some of you are expecting children. You'll all find something to please you at Kiddley. Even if your newborn isn't up to making snowflakes there are useful articles on clothing your children cheaply (tips for thrifting can be applied to us grown ups too).

If I was still a public librarian I'd definitely use it (in fact I'll probably use it anyway for crafty finds and projects with small people who visit), and if you want another handy link, I used to use loads of activities at Crayola. You need to register, but it's worth it.

kiddley, crafts, activities, children, libraries

I like

Gorgeous home library over at Apartment Therapy, not sure we'd have so much empty shelf space if it was ours though!

Look! We Go Color in the Library

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