Library Day

You may recall that I am, by education and profession, a librarian. I was a children's librarian in a public library for over ten years, and after Isaac was born I worked one day a week at the same library. However, this sweet deal fell apart mere minutes after I told my boss I was pregnant with Laurel. Literally, mere minutes -- I asked my boss if I could take three months off after the birth, and her eyes lit up as she saw the possibility of saving money by eliminating my position completely. She ended up suggesting another money-saving plan, one where I would take four months off and also reduce my hours, but in the end I was laid off completely.

I did return to work four months after Laurel's birth, but only long enough to make sure everyone else had been trained to do my job acceptably. So I haven't worked since August. When I did work, I would bring home a huge bag of children's books every week, much to Isaac's delight. After leaving such an excellent library behind I am reluctant to use our local library, which is inferior in almost every way. Well, we've been going at least once a month, but recently we've just been checking out DVDs for Isaac!

Just a few days ago I realized, however, that the amount of time I spend reading to Isaac has dramatically decreased over the last year. Man, did that realization make me feel guilty! Someone still reads to him every night, but sometimes we have time for only one or two books before he has to go to bed, and he never asks for books at other times of the day. Perhaps he is uninspired by his options? We have hundreds of children's books of our own, but Isaac has always enjoyed novelty in his reading. Now is the time, also, when he should be experiencing autonomy in making his reading selections, and with his eclectic tastes in nonfiction he really needs an entire library to choose from. Currently he claims he doesn't like chapter books, but maybe we just haven't found the right one.

And isn't he going to learn to read pretty soon? Right after he finishes learning the alphabet, I mean?

Isaac and I have been active together, playing and pretending a lot more than ever before, but I am sure Laurel is the main reason that I read so much less to him. However, just in the past month Laurel herself has become a true pleasure to read to! Previously one had to be prepared to wrest the book from her slavering jaws, because although she enjoyed looking at books, she was equally fond of chewing on them. But tonight I read to her for 15 minutes and she didn't try to eat a single page. Plus she laughs, turns the pages, turns the pages back to examine the interesting parts, and knows which books are her favorites.

She has always been a fan of photographs of babies, and right now she loves "You and Me, Baby" (by Reiser/Gentieu), which features photos of babies with their parents. We don't own a whole lot of books like this, since they weren't Isaac's favorites, so she could use a trip to the library as well!

For both kids, now is not a good time for me to drop the ball, reading-wise, and therefore I am just going to have to come to terms with my dissatisfaction with the regressive local library. So I have instituted a weekly Library Day. I am planning for us to go on Fridays, right after I pick Isaac up from preschool. We start this week!

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Note for my gift-giving immediate family: I added some books Laurel might enjoy to her Amazon wish list tonight, by the way.