I’d like to take a brief detour from my usual to write about something other than libraries, books, and librarian life. I know! Shocker! I almost feel like I’ve run out of things to talk about. (I haven’t but I’m just not in that mood today) I don’t want to be creating content just be creating content. Instead I’d like to talk about detours.
According to the Oxford English Dictionary (the only Dictionary in my humble opinion)
Detour- Noun- A long or roundabout route that is taken to avoid something or to visit somewhere along the way
Detour- Verb- Take a long or roundabout route
It comes from the French détour which means “change of direction” or “turn away”.
Okay now that I’ve satisfied the English Teacher in me let’s get to the meat of this.
A Detour. A change. Things going unexpectedly. Things not going according to plan. If you are anything like me, you like plans. You like to know where you’ve started and where you are going to. I have ALWAYS liked to know what to expect. As I’ve gotten older I’ve gotten better with the anticipation of the unknown. I’ve gotten better at winging it. But still, I like plans.
I get up in the morning and I have a mental list of what I want to accomplish. Laundry, Dishes, new Bulletin Board at work, finish three chapters of my book, clean my patio furniture, and make dinner. There’s my list for today. My plan. But in reality I have no idea how many patrons will come in. I may not get the bulletin board up. I may be invited to my parent’s for dinner and not need to make dinner.
But Planning! We are taught it from such a young age that we often don’t think about how harmful it can be. We can get so focused on getting something accomplished that we miss the detours. We miss the beautiful wildflowers (call them weeds if you want but I choose wildflowers) growing on the side of the road. Take a Popsicle break with a neighbor kid. Shoot some hoops by yourself. If you take more time for detours and welcome them instead of running like the plague from them, you may just discover that you enjoy your life more.
Death is a subject that is getting more attention in books for Junior Readers. Our children are no longer constantly exposed to death. If you had grown up during WWII you knew about death. Someone you knew had probably died. If you grew up during the Korean War or Vietnam war you understood the reality of war. In 1973 the last draft in the U.S. closed, due to the close of the Vietnam war. Since then war is a reality, but the way we address death with children has changed.
I grew up during the beginning of the “Global War on Terrorism”, for lack of better term. Born in 1992, I had a relatively uneventful childhood. None of my neighbors were being shipped overseas. None of my family were being killed in action. My idea of death was of a very limited scope. 9/11 came and went with relatively little change in my world. I didn’t have a great story to tell. We were at recess and were called inside. We all thought it was because there was a squirrel on the powerline. We watched the TV coverage of the two towers going down, but as a fourth grader I didn’t really understand. I grew up and someone I graduated with died in the Middle East. It was sad- but this was my first experience of someone in the military that I knew dying, unlike my grandparents.
I can’t fault myself for not really understanding when 9/11 happened. I was only a fourth grader. But what about the Gen Z? What about our current children? They understand that sometimes people walk into clubs and shoot people because they disagree with their lifestyles. They understand that sometimes people bomb churches and mosques because they disagree with their belief system. And we, as rational people of sanity, understand that this is not okay.
We want to shelter children. We want them to have the idyllic childhood we all dream of. Let’s not talk about bad things. Let’s not show pictures of the Holocaust. Let’s not talk about the reality of slavery. It might make children sad. I understand this sentiment but is it really helping? There are still mass shootings and bombings. Have we really helped our children?
Fantastical realism gives kids a way to process through complex emotions and situations in a safe setting. In the Harry Potter series we see a main character that is neglected, abused, malnourished, given too much responsibility, and fights in a war. All of these things would be hard to deal with. By putting it in a world with magic, it puts these events at a safe distance for the reader.
I have seen an interesting uptick in the frequency that Middle School and Junior books are dealing with death. They aren’t just mentioning it, but they are actually having their characters process death. The characters are giving kids a frame of reference when things go wrong in their own lives.
Here are a few of my favorite books right now that are dealing with death. They all have hard situations and they all look at death differently, but consider this a small resource of books to help a child you may know that is experiencing the death of a loved one.
When Friendship Followed me Home by Paul Griffin. The main character in this book deals with loss of his adoptive mother and with the loss of a friend to cancer. This weird girl that he meets at the library decides they are going to be friends and our main character is swept into a crazy world of fathers who are magicians and mothers who are librarians and friends who seem to have secrets about them getting sick. He finds a new family but he also genuinely processes death. He also learns that it’s okay to not be okay when we lose someone.
Prisoner of War by Michael Spradlin. Set during WWII, Henry has lied about his age to join the military and escape his abusive father. The day he is found out is the day the enemy begins to attack. He is captured by the Japanese and placed in a POW camp. With disregard for the Geneva Convention and friends dying often, can Henry find the willpower to survive? This shows the reality of war without being too graphic for younger readers.
House with Chicken Legs by Sophie Anderson. Marinka is going to be a Yaga. She is destined for it. Her grandmother is always saying so. Just because her grandmother guides the dead to their rest doesn’t mean that’s what Markina dreams of doing. She wants real friends. She wants to be friends with humans that she will know longer than just a night before they pass over but one well-meaning mistake could take her grandmother away forever and then where will Markina be? This book focuses on the Russian folklore aspect of a Yaga and shows how death can be a peaceful thing for many people who have lived a good life.
The House in Poplar Woods by K.E. Ormsbee. Two twins live in a divided house. Their mother serves the Shade of Memory and their father serves the Shade of Death. Can these two determined brothers break the agreement that keeps their parent’s forever separated or will Death continue to win and rule the day? This book looks at the idea of someone else being in control of who dies when. A different idea of death but it does show the belief system of some people. It is ultimately a book of hope.
So here are a few options for you. I hope they are resources for you and that you also evaluate how you interact with our youth when it comes to death.
Teens are one of the hardest age groups to get into the library. They have jobs, sports, and they want to just “hang” (whatever that means). As a Teen librarian I still strive to be relevant to them and plan things they will like but I sometimes wonder if I’m getting through to them.
But the library is so important! Teens can come and find people who want to invest in them. I try to plan events that will appeal to them and that they will want to come to! Here’s an example of my most successful program thus far!
Last summer I had a lot of success with a fandom themed cupcake wars. I made TONS of cupcakes. I had them pre-register so I would have an idea of how many kids were coming and they each got two cupcakes. We had about 5 extra teen show up. So that’s an extra 10 cupcakes. Thankfully I was covered cupcake wise. But it was amazing! They were making marvel themed cupcakes, Hunger Games themed cupcakes, and other things that I didn’t even know what they were!
A Pokemon cupcake
A Hunger Games Cupcake
Our wonderful Slytherin Judge (Yes I know she’s wearing Harry’s glasses but she claims Slytherin as her house!)
I also had a local business send someone to be our judge. She dressed up in her Harry Potter garb, adding to the fun atmosphere, and it got the community more involved in our Summer Reading Program.
This year we’re doing the cupcake wars again, and I’m really excited. I hope to get lots of Teens that want to come again. But I’m keeping things simple. One event in June and one event in July.
In July we are going to be doing a Hunger Game themed event. They will have to build a shelter, get through an obstacle course, identify poison plants and edible ones. I’m excited! Hopefully both of these events will be well attended because I want to provide something for our teens to do. In a small town there isn’t a whole lot going on in the summer, especially for Teens.
If you have any tips for me, please feel free to put them in the comments because I could use all the help I can get!
As a librarian I realize that it takes something spectacular to be me. Many people think that being a librarian is boring but they have no clue. I know many librarians. Some are a little boring….. but are they? They are masters of the Dewey Decimal system. Need to know where to find poetry? Boom! 811! Need to find books about pets? Boom! 636. Want books about holidays? Boom! 394
But really. We are magical people. That cardigan is a superhero cape. That bun is containing all of the information. We get to inspire young minds. We get to listen to people who just need to have someone listen. We have the incredible job of interior decorator, craft designer, and Public Relations all rolled into one.
But we aren’t the only tough job out there hiding in cardigans! Did you realize that case managers in foster care work on social skills, advocate for their kids, teach Life Skills to teenagers, write reports, and are often on call 24/7? Their tired eyes are the because they see the hard things. They are magic. They are often the only constant in some of these kids lives. They buy ice cream. They show up to special events. They. Are. Magic!
What about teachers? They need those cardigans for all those pencils they magically produce when students forget! We all know teachers are important! They spend most of their day with everyone else’s kids and still go home and parent their own! It takes a special kind of magic to do that. (Well magic and good friends. I don’t know a single teacher who can do it all on their own). Teachers become mentors, stand-in parents, nurturers, scientists, encouragers, and sounding boards.
And let’s not forget those sweet gentlemen and ladies who teach music to small children? They need those cardigans to grip tightly in their hands when they are so frustrated but they can’t show it. When that kid continues to POUND on the piano instead of play it. When that child has broken his 4th guitar string this month because he is playing so hard or decided to bounce things off the strings. They need those cardigans!
So the cardigan is amazing. It’s versatile. It’s magic- for more than just Librarians.
This is the normal idea right? You go to the library because it is quiet.
You go because people will leave you alone.
You go because it’s the one place your kids HAVE to be quiet.
As much as I would love to agree with you on this point, this has changed drastically over time.
The library is no longer a place for silence. Libraries have morphed into acting as community centers on many occasions. Recently I had 4 different families in our small children’s area on a Friday morning. Kids were running, some were on computers, mothers were chatting, and there was the occasional crying. This is a typical Friday morning for me.
But on top of that, most people no longer even attempt to be quiet in my Children’s Section. Sometimes it would be nice to at least have a parent attempt to keep their child from running amuck.
So a few guidelines would not go amiss: so here are a few tips to help your librarian not feel like she needs to go to the back and sniff her Peace And Calming essential oils!
As much as we want you and your kids to enjoy yourselves, be conscious of the fact that this is not your home. Food is not allowed in my library. There is a sign on the front door and people are still upset with me when I ask them not have food in the library. I’m not being mean and it’s not that I don’t want you to enjoy yourselves, but Cheeto hands on the books is not my favorite thing.
Please watch your children. It’s actually not my job to babysit your kids. I may be helping check out a patron and have more in line- it’s not feasible for me to jump over the counter to stop your three year old from wandering out the door because you are playing Candy Crush on your phone. I am happy to interact with your kids, but my job is not free babysitting.
If your child is pulling tons of books of the shelf that you are not going to check out saying something along the lines of “That’s okay sweetie. I’m sure the librarian would be happy to reshelve those. You just keep pulling out books” is not the way to get on my good side. I understand that kids are going to pull books off shelves. I understand that you are not going to check out every book that your child puts in your pile, but please don’t encourage them to pull books off the shelf for the fun of it.
If you ask me to help you find WWII books and I find you all the ones we have in the department, don’t go to the other person working in the department and ask them to look for you also. I only found four books in the catalog that are set in WWII that are at the reading level you want because we only have four. The other librarian can look also, but she is going to get the same results I do.
And finally, please respect the fact that this is still a library. Just because it’s the children’s department doesn’t mean that we don’t need some semblance of order. We are happy to have your children, but shouting and screaming would be something to address with your children instead of just ignoring it.
That’s it. 5 simple things that can make your life, your librarian’s life, and the life of the other patrons much happier while at the library. Please keep coming in! Please keep checking out books, just please be conscientious of the others at the library while you are here.
The Sparkling Librarian 