First, I bought a giant geode! Students always loved the smaller one in the old library. The online retailer from whom I bought it sells crystals that it claims have all kinds of special healing properties. I bought it for glamor (purple!) and science (10 million years old!) rather than for its new-age powers. As our headmaster pointed out, someone sat near it for a long time with a case of the sniffles but was still afflicted several days later. No proof of the healing powers yet, but we must adhere to the scientific method and collect more data. I just say, it's way better than some stuffed Babar or other cutesy plush.
Next, I put cool items on top of shelves in the major Dewey categories.
J 398.2: Folk and fairy tales.
Kids are besotted with the figurines and the tiara.
I am so happy that the urge to move little figures around and make them speak in affected voices is still irrepressible, even for 10 year olds.
J 500s: Natural Scienes
A third-grader identified the dinosaur instantly as a spinosaurus.
J 590s: No trouble finding pythons in the home of the Paideia Pythons. A grandmother who volunteers to shelve each week was taken by surprise when the rubber snake wiggled at her.
J 590s: I use the rubber crocodile when I read aloud Roald Dahl's The Enormous Crocodile: I swing it around over my head and send it sailing.
J 600s: A huge interest in cooking these days, thanks to the implements. I know of two children who have used our resources to cook dinners for their families. What a sense of accomplishment for a 3rd grader!
J 700s. So far, no one has tossed the football.
An ironic reference to a time when I had books on every kind of sport imaginable -- except football. No kid had ever asked for football books, until one day one of them did (and his father was a famous local football figure).
J 800s: Literature and Poetry. Our painting of The Owl and the Pussycat, especially enhanced by my son's electric neon sailboat.
J 900s: History and Geography. Courtesy of my son's room (he's in grad school and doesn't want these things in his apartment--maybe they're not a chick magnet, even though I think he looks adorable in the Viking helmet).
As I excitedly -- nay, manically -- led a group of 7 & 8 year olds on a tour of the new stuff, a little girl solemnly remarked, "Natalie, you work so hard to make this place nice for us." When all kids realize that adults adore getting appreciation, we'll be like putty in their hands. Beware.
And for those who requested another video, here's an exercise in silliness, Welcome to the Library (if the embed doesn't work, click here):
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