Happy Birthday Books!

by Marge Loch-Wouters

Hot dog! It’s National Children’s Book Week time again! And for our library (and I bet for yours) that means lots and lots of tours and class visits.

We like to tell the kids who visit the library in the weeks surrounding this one that CBW is the time that we celebrate the birthday of books. If the spirit moves us, we sing a rousing “Happy Birthday” chorus and then get down to the nitty of gritty of explaining to young kids how these books can get into their hands and then back to us.

We liken the library to a home – this is where the books live. But, of course, the books love to visit with kids! With a library card, children can take home books and other materials for a visit. And, just like a visit from a friend (we all know that visiting friends don’t stay forever at your house), the books have to return home to the library after a few weeks so they can visit with other children. This simple explanation hits home with children and helps them see how a library works.

We show the kids around – each year theming the tour of collections, check-out and Info desks and display areas to go along with a favorite children’s book. This year we are using Eric Carle’s Very Hungry Caterpillar. Wooden fruits and veggies are plunked down at high points (DVD’s; Toy Library; new book display; book drop, etc) and we walk around using a caterpillar puppet -and the sharp-eyed kids- to find the food, munch it and describe to the tour group what area they are in. Kids remember the food on subsequent visits with parents when library staffers are overheard saying to kids “Remember, you check out your books over by the banana.” It brings a grin to all our faces.

Do you have fun and innovative ways to celebrate books and libraries during your CBW tours or other times of the year? Feel free to share!