Miss Angie here. I work at Canyon Country Library, and I lead the 2’s and 3’s Storytimes. They are Monday and Wednesday at 9:30. As a Children’s Librarian, I have a lot of responibilities at the library. I help maintain our collection of kids books. I help kids find that perfect book they know they need. I help kids find that perfect book they don’t know they need. I help parents find books for the children, almost always at a certain AR level or for a certain assignment. I help pay attention to gaps in our collection so we know what needs to be ordered. I also sit at the reference desk and help adults in the adult section. I solve computer problems. I help print. I find the latest book by some popular adult author who I never actually read (Won’t someone please ask me a John Irving question?). I solve problems with patron accounts. And, I do a lot behind the scenes. I plan upcoming parties. I plan Summer Reading Program logistics. I attend meetings. I attend outreach events. Sometimes, I simply go buy donuts for the staff.
BUT, the most fun I have is my storytimes. For two hours each week, I get to work solely with my favorite people: toddlers and preschoolers. I get to read them stories (always short because they won’t sit for long). I get to sing them songs (always simple so they’ll sing with me). I get to play with them (always fun because of course). I love my storytimes because I get to help caretakers learn tools that they can use at home. We count out toys because math can be found anywhere. We put animals in order because recognizing patterns is a pre-reading skill. We sing songs one more time because the concept of one more is an essential skill. We cross our arms mid-line because this helps develop fine motor skills. We pretend we are flying airplanes because this helps develop gross motor skills.
There is a lot of reasoning behind what I do in my storytimes, but the kids don’t know that. My expectation is that the parents pick up a lot of the reasons and learn to incorporate them into their home life. When I hear that a child holds their hands up in fist at home and says, “What makes this sound? Moo moo,” pretending they have a little cow magnet in their hands, my heart melts. When I hear they talked about my storytime that morning and there’s a certain song they hope I sing, I love to listen because I definitely take requests.
I hope that everyone, young and old, has fun together during my storytimes. I want that hour to be a happy part of everyone’s day because I want to grow positive moments in the library for my families so they will continue to come back, even after all the kiddos are past storytime age. One day, they are going to need some boring book for some assignment they don’t want to do, and I hope they still remember me fondly and come to me to help them find a book they can get excited about.
For two hours each week, I am the most confident at my job. I may not always handle irate adult patrons without getting nervous, but I am always confident that my kids are entertained in storytime. I hope everyone comes to my storytimes with their listening ears, their singing voices, their clapping hands, their dancing feet, and their perfect giggles because that’s what my storytimes are about.
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