Children’s Librarian Sally Klepper gets to spend a fair part of her days selecting children’s books, creating clever crafts and sharing both with children. It’s rough, but somebody’s got to do it! Yesterday, she shared with me the poem I’m Going to the LIbrary, from poet Jack Prelutsky’s new book, My Dog May Be a Genius. The Poetry Foundation has named Prelutsky “the nation’s first Children’s Poet Laureate.”
We have numerous books by Prelutsky in our Children’s Department. He’s a sure bet with both children and fun-loving adults which makes any of his books a great way to introduce poetry to any children in your circle of love.
Now this issue of unreturned library books is not limited to children or children’s literature! Comic mystery writer Ian Sansom’s librarian hero Israel Armstrong has strong opinions on unreturned books. The second book in the “Mobile Library Mystery” series, Mr. Dixon Disappears, begins with Israel’s rant, “He was sick of the excuses and the lies. He was tired of the evasions and the untruths, of people refusing to stand up and speak the truth and take responsibility for their own actions. It seemed to him like yet another symptom of the decline of Western civilisation; of chaos; and climate change; and environmental disaster; and war; disease; famine; oppression; the eternal slow slide down and down and down. It was entropy, nemesis, apotheosis, imminent apocalypse and sheer bad manners all rolled into one. People were not returning their library books on time.”
Our staff doesn’t quite get this bent out of shape over late returns, but some of our patrons waiting for their turn at the book (or other item) do!
See you at the book drop!
