Seattle Story Time Tour - Central Library

Continuing the series, I visited Ms. Lauren at the Central library today to enjoy a penguin themed story time.

Branch: Central

Storyteller: Ms. Lauren

Age/Type: Preschool

Three or four different preschool groups and several caregivers with children crowd into the story time room at the Central library this morning. They do a head count to make sure they don't go over the 170 something capacity for the fire code. This is a popular program! 

Ms. Lauren starts out with a new welcome song for the season. Sung to the tune of "Farmer in the Dell", the song goes like this:

"We clap and sing hello, we clap and sing hello. With our friends at storytime, we clap and sing hello." This is repeated with "stomp and sing" and "nod and sign" (she teaches them the ASL sign for 'hello'). 

Today we learn about... Penguins! Ms. Lauren points out the letter P on her dry erase board and has the audience try out the 'puh' sound. 

To get the kids ready for a book, she has them do the "Open, shut them" song and tells them the first fact about penguins (did you know that, although penguins are birds, they don't fly?).

The first book she reads is "Sergio Makes a Splash" by Edel Rodriguez. 

After this book, she asks everyone to get out their flippers and they sing this song:

"Did you ever see a penguin, a penguin, a penguin? Did you ever see a penguin, waddle this way and that? Waddle this way and that way, waddle this way and that way. Did you ever see a penguin, waddle this way and that?"

Fact #2: Did you know that there are 17 different types of penguins? She points to a stuffed animal penguin behind her and points out that that penguin in an Emperor Penguin. She points to a globe and shows the crowd where they come from- the south pole.

The next book is a big book called "Tacky the Penguin" by Helen Lester.

When Ms. Lauren finishes this book, it is time for a dance party. She puts on a song form Seaseme Street called "Doing the Penguin." 

The last book is by one of my favorite picture book authors Oliver Jeffers. She reads "Lost and Found."

Ms. Lauren then uses the ASL sign for 'goodbye' in her goodbye song to the tune of "Goodnight, Ladies."

"Goodbye, friends. Goodbye, friends. Goodbye, friends. It's time to say goodbye."

She ends her story time by stamping the hands of the children with a penguin stamp. 

This was great fun. Thanks for letting me watch! And kudos to whoever made this sweet tree for the fantasy books display.

Best,

Amanda

Library Profile - George W. Hawkes Central Library, Arlington Public Library

I learned a little while ago that one of my hometown libraries is closing its doors tonight as the city prepares to demolish the building. The lot is then going to be used for mixed-use commercial development. Another Central Library has not yet been built. Library users will have to wait until at least 2017 for a new branch. Until then,  according to a library staff member I spoke with, the library's East branch is going to be open longer hours and an 'outpost' of sorts for limited library services will be opened nearby.

The three story Central Library in Arlington, Texas has been a part of the community since 1973. My husband remembers going to this library for story times, I used to visit it a lot in college, and it was the location of my first ever library job. I owe so much to this building and the people who worked here in times gone by. I walked into the library yesterday for the first time in two years to say goodbye. It wasn't like I had hoped; most of the people working the desks were strangers and there were no throngs of people paying last respects. All the same, I found myself remembering the good times.

This is the entrance that most people used to enter the library, although I feel it is technically the back entrance.

This is the lobby where patrons can get library cards and pick up holds. 

They had a banner above the check out stations reads "Turning a Page: A New Chapter of Arlington's Central Library." Although, a new page that will take three years to turn. 

The Youth Room with a banner that says "Take Me There!"

The Story Time space and Children's book collection. 

I'm gonna miss this guy!

The Young Adult section down in the basement, where I spent most of my time. A lot of the book display signs I made are still in place.

The Teen Studio! I will miss you most of all. Even on the 2nd to last day, it is still being used by several teens. 

The outdoor reading patio that they had just built when I left. All of those benches with memorial plaques. I sure hope they make it somewhere else in the city!

A view of the first floor, which holds Adult Fiction, Foreign Language, Music, DVDs, and New Books. 

The epic staircase that takes you to the second floor.

The second floor is home to public access computers and Non Fiction. 

Lastly, here are a few pictures of the street facing 'font' entrance. 

Goodbye, Central Library! I hope the 2017 library that is slated to be built will be home to many more memories and serve the community as valiantly as you. You will be missed. I'm going to go cry now.

Best,

Amanda

Library Profile: Seattle Central Library

Today I am continuing the series of posts that profile different libraries. Since I live in Seattle, I figured I should do a profile of the famous downtown library. I was lucky enough to get a tour from one of their assistant managing librarians and I learned a lot about the space.

I'm not going to go into detail about the construction or history of the building, mostly because I think they say it best on the SPL website here. Instead, I'm going to share the pictures from my tour and give my own impressions of the spaces in the library. Here we go!

We started with the world languages section on the first floor, where I learned that they have all kinds of unique languages. They even had a few books in Esperanto, a constructed language. Perfeckta!

The floor of this section is embossed with phrases out of books in their collection in all kinds of languages.

While they have a huge variety, I learned that they only currently develop collections for about a handful of languages. This means that they are not getting new items in for the other languages due to lack of circulation and other criteria they have developed. So, they likely don't have Gone Girl in Esperanto. This is probably okay.

Next we visited the third floor that has the FriendShop, Teen Area, and popular collection items. The beautiful architecture changes on each floor, giving you a different view through the angular glass windows.

The fifth floor is the main floor for public computers, ready reference, and job searching tools. This is the floor that also hosts programs like Tax Help or information sessions on the Affordable Care Act. Behind the scenes, this is the floor for the library staff that answer the library's main phone line. Any general library information or ready reference is answered by staff at cubicles. More specialized questions are sent out to other departments.

Next we traversed the spiral. This is where the nonfiction and reference materials are housed. Friendly, super knowledgeable staff at these desks will talk to you about anything from LBJ biographies to upcoming library programs.

On our journey up the spiral, we stopped outside a music practice room and listened to a library patron play an accordion.

Up on the tenth floor you can walk out onto this balcony and see the amazing view all the way down to the third floor. It really makes me want to throw a paper airplane to see it navigate all the way down, but I am told this is not advised :).

Back on the first floor, I explored the children's section. Fun, bright colors and a huge selection of books makes this the most magical part of the library as far as I'm concerned. Although, I just realized that I took a picture of the bathroom... >< I was just trying to get the fabricated bull and the tree in the same picture, I swear!

I will leave you with one last picture of the view out the amazing glass windows.

So, there you have it! If you are in town, you should pay this glorious building a visit. You can find public tour information here on their website.

Best,
Amanda