Holy hiatus, Batman!

Whoa! That past month went quickly.

I finished my fall programs on December 19th and then Christmas came along and I went back to Michigan to visit my family (and managed to sleep nights! Thank you, Mom, for handling my son!) and now I'm finally back to work and getting ready for my spring programs.

But it hasn't only been a hiatus from blogging, it's also been a program break. I take most of January off to get my gears oiled and ready for the spring.

Sounds nice, right?

Yeah, when I planned it out, I thought so, too. But then my list of things to accomplish during my break just got longer and longer and longer... and everything takes so much more time than I think it will..... and it's just been nose to the grindstone work work work.

On the plus side, I've accomplished a couple of things so far:

• Finally got my spring program schedule nailed down and ready to go. The registration sheets are ready, the brochures are ready, the staff has been informed... it's all good. (Of course, now I have to actually plan the content of those programs, but let's take it one obstacle at a time, yes?)

• Story Bundles! I go this idea from The Show Me Librarian and it's been awesome so far. Since I'm doing it right after the holidays, I get the added bonus of the kids saying "it looks like presents!" which makes them more eager to check them out. I've also been able to point them out when parents are disappointed that there is no Story Time this week. (Quick note: I also do a music and movement program called "Let's Move" so I put out CD bundles with some of my favorites for those who wanted to dance at home). 

• Weeded my reference collection down to two shelves (it was previously nine shelves!!). I put some of the materials into circulation and some of them just had to go (a book that only shows the country and its flag with no more info? No longer useful!). The empty shelves are just waiting to ease the burden of some of my over-crowded sections. 

So that's something at least.

Now back to work!

Flannel Friday: Felt Board Family

Many years ago, my boss, who grew up in India, told me a story of her childhood that I thought would make a great flannelboard story.

I made the pieces for it: my boss as a little girl, her sister, her parents, and the police officer. This story also needed a monkey and a tree, which I borrowed from another flannel set.

Here are the family pieces:

I told the story several times, but it never seemed to connect with the kids, no matter how I told it or what age group my audience was. I finally gave up on it and the pieces languished in their folder for years, watching me pass them by every time I planned a story time. 

At my current library we have a flannelboard in the children's room where I can put out pieces for the kids to play with. I figured it was time to give these new life, so I put them on the board for the kids to enjoy. 

Turns out, pieces that I handle can be a lot more fragile than pieces the kids handle. Who knew, right?

Yeah, that's her hand that's still stuck to her dress.
Her arm got super stretched and then her hand ripped off. Ouch. 

Sigh. Lesson learned.