6 Ways Libraries Spread Valentine's Day Love

1. Valentine's Day Crafts

Almost every public library will have a craft for kids to make Valentines, Valentine Boxes, or Valentine's Day cards.

2. Love Themed Story Times

It's also common for your local story time to be about love, but not always. Some librarians don't like to do themes or have some other theme planned. It may be good to call ahead to see.

3. Blind Date Book Display

This is a really neat trend that has caught on at many libraries. You check out a book without knowing what it is. Will it be love, or will your book date be a dud?

4. Romance Novels

Perfect for reading while curled up next to your cat with a glass of wine. Judgement free!

5. Cookbooks for Romantic Recipes

Eating out can be a miserable experience. Even if you make reservations, restaurants are so busy this night. Stay in with your sweetie and make your own tasty food together. Even if it turns out poorly, it will make a funny story (plus, Dominoes does deliver on Valentine's Day... just saying).

6. Valentine's Reference Questions

"What are Valentine's Day traditions in other countries?"
"What is the number for local chocolate makers or florists?"
"Who wrote that song that goes like this... ? We heard it on our first date."

#Letmelibrarianthatforyou

Good luck!

Love,
Amanda

Story Time Detour - KCLS Burien Library

I've been touring all the library branches in Seattle and observing story times, but this week I took a little detour. I volunteer for the King County Library System at the Burien Library and I asked the children's librarians at this library if I could sit in on one of their story times. Here is what we did today.

Library: KCLS Burien Library
Age/Type: Preschool
Storyteller: Ms. Gaye

This story time takes place in the building's multipurpose room that the library shares with city hall. It is a nice, big space. Ms. Gaye has name tags for story time goers and makes chit chat as people come in. She starts the story time with a great rhyme. KCLS has an excellent website that shares a lot of songs and rhymes called Tell Me a Story.

Here is the one we open with:

"My Hands"

Next we play a fun guessing game with four flannel houses. Ms. Gaye asks us to guess under which house the little duck is hiding. "Little duck, little duck, are you in the red house?" We repeat until we find the little duck under the last house.

We talk about how ducks go 'quack' and Ms. Gaye explains that today is all about the letter 'Q'. She takes out a 'Q' on a stick and asks us what words start with 'Q'.

Book: "Little Quack's Hide and Seek"

Since Valentine's Day is coming up, Ms. Gaye gets out a flannel called "Five Sweet Valentines." I've used this rhyme before. It's a great subtraction exercise.

Book: "Questions, Questions"

Next we sing "Roll Your Hands." I love this!

What else starts with 'Q'? Why, 'Queen' of course! Ms. Gaye does a flannel rhyme called "Queen of Hearts." A Queen gets new dresses with various shapes. We point out the shapes on our own clothing.

This next part is truly magical. Ms. Gaye has a bag of stuffed animals and she pulls them out as she sings the "When Animals Get Up in the Morning" song.

After this, we sing the "Alphabet Song" and clap to the beat.

Book: "If You're Happy and You Know It, Clap Your Hands" - a Pop-up!!

The last activity before the craft is the "Beanbag Song." Ms. Gaye puts on a song from a CD and hands out beanbags. The song is really fun and interactive. All the parents and kids get really into throwing the beanbags and holding them to different body parts.

The craft is creating a Queen with Q cut outs.

What a cool story time! Thanks for letting me observe today, Ms. Gaye.

Best,
Amanda

Seattle Story Time Tour - Northeast Branch

Branch: Northeast

Storyteller: Ms. Erica

Age/Type: Preschool

Another packed story time for the Seattle Public Library. This branch, however, has a bigger meeting room and can support all the kids that show up today. Ms. Erica does a Groundhog Day theme today, focusing on the changing of the seasons. 

Letter time! We go over the letter 'G' and the sounds it can make. Ms. Erica asks if anyone has a name that starts with 'g.' A few do. So does Groundhog! 

Hello Song: "Open Shut Them" with whispered verses and loud verses. 

She asks everybody to shake their hands while she goes over story time expectations with parents.

Book: "A Friend for All Seasons"

Ms. Erica tells us the story of the Groundhog. If he sees his shadow on Groundhog Day, that means 6 more weeks of winter. 

Next we sing a song called "I'm a Little Groundhog" to the tune of "I'm a Little Teapot." It goes like this:

"I'm a little groundhog short and stout. February 2nd I pop out. If I see my shadow, they all shout: '6 more weeks of winter without a doubt!'"

Stretch! She asks us all to stand up and stretch to this rhyme:

"Tall as a tree, wide as a house, thin as a pin, small as a mouse."

Book: "Tap the Magic Tree"

She asks us to tap the air in front of us to make the magic happen in the book. Very cute read aloud.

Yay! I finally get to see a flannel. She uses a flannel set to tell the story of a confused Groundhog that can't tell if he can see his own shadow. Ms. Erica asks us to chant 'Groundhog, groundhog, when will Spring be?" He decides to go back into his burrow and wait for Spring to decide on its own.

Fact: Did you know that a groundhog is also know as a a woodchuck?

As soon as I heard 'woodchuck' I knew what was coming! Ms. Erica has us chant the classic tongue twister:

"How much wood would a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood!?"

After several repetitions of this, Ms. Erica leads us in singing "The More We Get Together" and shows us the American Sign Language to go with it.

She fills the parents in on an Early Literacy Tip before the closing song. Writing takes a lot of core strength. Encourage your child to play and get strong so they can learn to write.

Goodbye Song: "If You're Happy and You Know It"

After the story time, Ms. Erica passes out puppets for kids to play with. She also has a craft prepared. Today's craft is a sheet of paper with four empty trees representing each season. The kids are provided with paper, glue, cotton balls, etc. to decorate them. 

Ms. Erica also provides each kid who wants one with a hand stamp to conclude the story time.

This was a great, high energy group! Thanks for letting me observe. 

Best,
Amanda