#children's librarian
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As a children's librarian, people who harass fans of Harry Potter indiscriminately really worry me.
Here's why.
1. The majority of Harry Potter fans are children.
I've had people call me disgusting and scum and an embarrassment to my disabled community. I've been suicide baited and have received death threats. All of this can be heavy enough stuff for an adult to deal with.
And then I think of how most of my 700+ elementary-aged students are huge Harry Potter fans. Because, you know, Harry Potter is a children's series. And they also have access to the internet and social media like TikTok and YouTube.
Now imagine the stuff that's been said to me being said to a kid. Because Harry Potter's main audience are KIDS.
2. This black-and-white mentality isn't healthy.
Very few things in life are cut-and-dry good vs bad. And if you employ this kind of thinking in one area of your life, odds are you'll apply it to other areas too(more on that in a moment).
And people who go out of their way to harass people who like Harry Potter don't seem to particularly care about any context beyond "If you like Harry Potter in any way whatsoever you're scum".
It hasn't mattered when I've pointed out that I absolutely and unequivocally think Rowling's TERF views are awful and scummy and wrong. It hasn't mattered that I try my best to consume the content only in ways that won't monetarily support her, (which kids typically can't do, btw). It hasn't mattered that it's literally in my job description to keep up with children's media to procure content for my patrons as well as to be able to hold conversations with them.
3. Saying "You're not allowed to read this without being harassed" is no different from saying a book should be banned.
This is ironic, seeing as the people doing the harassing are also often up in arms about queerphobic and racist book bans (as they should be) while demanding book bans of their own.
Because in their all-or-nothing way of thinking, book bans are only bad when the "bad" people do it.
No. Book bans are always bad, no exceptions.
Book bans aren't bad because they're banning the "good" books, they're bad because banning access to different ideas is always bad. Because every book has a lesson to teach us (perhaps not the lesson intended by the author, but a lesson nonetheless).
#school librarian#librarylife#libraryland#school libraries#the real life of me#libraries#elementary school#canada#harry potter fandom#harry potter#hp fandom#book banning#purity culture#kidlit#children's literature#children's librarian
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Kid at the reference desk: Do you have any of the Dork Diaries books?
Me: Yeah, they should be... here!
Two minutes later, see the kid walking to checkout like:
Me:
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This little girl in the library shouting, “CAT THE HAT! CAT THE HAT!” was the highlight of my week.
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Rivington Street, 1923: a line waiting for "easy books." A librarian holds up a book and those who want it raise their hands.
Photo: Lantern slide from NYPL
#vintage New York#1920s#libraries#library#librarian#children's library#books#children's librarian#Rivington St.#Lower East Side#vintage libraries#NYPL
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Nevermind, I had a much better day and feel like I can hold out for a while longer.
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Hi Tumblr, I love children's books and I'm looking forward to seeing the Caldecott Award winners announced in January. Until then though, I wanna try doing a mock Caldecott tournament here. IF you are unfamiliar with the Caldecott Award, it is a children's book award awarded to children's picture books that display an excellence in illustration. It is only for books published in America however, and only for books published in the same year. More info can be found here: https://www.ala.org/ala/alsc/awardsscholarships/literaryawds/caldecottmedal/caldecottterms/caldecottterms.htm
I am incredibly lazy and have no experience in making a bracket and so this will be a very laid back thing. To put together a list, I am referring to school library journal's lists, because again, I'm lazy. This includes:
An American Story by Kwame Alexander and Dare Coulter (disclaimer, I am biased, this is the one I want to win)
Evergreen by Matthew Cordell
The Fire of Stars: The Life and Brilliance of the Woman Who Discovered What Stars Are Made Of by Kirsten W Larsen and Katherine Roy
Nell Plants a Tree by Ann Wynters and Daniel Miyares
The Tree and the River by Aaron Becker
The Skull by Jon Klassen
Jumper: A day in the Life of a Backyard Jumping Spider by Jessica Lanan
There was a Party for Langston by Jason Reynolds and Jerome and Jarrett Pumphrey
Tomfoolery: Randolph Caldecott and the Rambunctious Coming-of-Age of Children’s Books by Michelle Markel and Barbara McClintock
Big by Vashti Harrison
I intend to start things on Monday. Also, I said I am referring to the attached lists for this, but if there's a book someone else really thinks should be included, let me know!
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kinda wanna make a mock caldecott poll tournament but i worry i don't have nearly enough clout to get such a thing going that's really only interesting to the small handful of children's librarians on the site
#public library#children's librarian#tagging just in case i've massively underestimated the presence of my target audience and lots of other people want to do it
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It's spooky story season! 🎃📙
#teaching#literacy#classroom library#library#children's librarian#school libraries#book club#halloween#halloween books#picture books
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Described in alt text
Ah, the glamorous life of a children's librarian...
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how're you doing lpm?
Hi anon!
I'm pretty stressed tbh, but the local kids and I are gonna make snow globes out of unwanted mason jars today. I'm gonna get covered in glitter and I can't wait.
As a related note, your local library probably also does cool things like this for kids and also adults. Check them out!
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I love being an elementary school librarian because of those moments when... (Part 1/?)
...Kids say something unintentionally hilarious and you nearly burst a lung from holding in your laughter because you can’t laugh, ohgod you CAN’T LAUGH.
...A kid comes up to you and they’re practically vibrating to tell you something they consider big news (e.g. their tooth fell out, their birthday is in two months, etc).
...They ask you something that, were they an adult it’d be nosy or downright rude, but they ask in that tone of genuine innocent curiosity that only kids have and that makes it both okay and adorable.
...They ask you for help opening something.
...You help them with their clothes (tying their shoes, helping them with a snow boot that won’t go in, etc).
...They say/do something at a later date that shows they were paying attention to what you said and it made an impact in their lives.
...They get visibly excited to see you and/or want to know when they’ll see you next.
...They ask worriedly about whether they’ll miss storytime on Date X because they won’t be at school that day, which means they look forward to your storytelling.
...They give you little gifts, be it a picture, a thing, or all the Coffee Crisps they got trick-or-treating (because you told them once that your favourite chocolate bar has a yellow wrapper).
...They stop by the library to chat about what’s going on in their lives and/or to talk about their interests.
...They give unprompted compliments (”Library time is my favourite time of the week!”, “Thank you for reading those stories, they were very good!”, “I really like it when you read us stories!”, etc).
...You find yourself doing incredibly random things like writing Norse Runes on popsicle sticks to be added as part of a kit to go with the book so that children can cast their fortunes like the Vikings did (because the paper sticks that came with the book won’t last a minute).
...You get to geek out over a book or tv show or a topic with a little kid and they get super stoked that they’ve found someone who likes the same thing they do.
#libraryland#librarylife#school libraries#school librarian#children's librarian#elementary school#adventures in librarian ing#the real life of me
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Attention picture book authors and publishers!
There shall be no more books about autumn starring anthropomorphized leaves. That trope is being retired.
Thank you for your attention.
#picture books#children's librarian#childrens books#childrens literature#publishing tips#tropes#writing advice
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My dear friends: When a librarian or teacher says "Audiobooks count as reading", we do not literally mean that audiobooks are the same as decoding visual meaning via symbols representing sounds. We mean, among other things:
Audiobooks can expose listeners to new vocabulary and forms of syntax.
Audiobooks can present listeners with long-form fictional narratives with engaging characters, interesting literary devices, and poetic turns of phrase.
Audiobooks can teach listeners new information in a long-form manner that goes into depth or wide breadth on a particular subject or subjects.
Audiobooks can help listeners' verbal comprehension skills.
Audiobooks can do all these things without presenting the same difficulties to blind, low vision, partially sighted, visually impaired, or dyslexic listeners; listeners with ADHD; listeners who experience physical difficulty with holding a book or e-reader; or listeners who are disabled in a host of other ways that a physical book or e-reader might present.
The written word is not specially imbued with magical noble worth above the spoken word, and if you think it is, you may have some ableism and/or racism to deconstruct.
#audiobooks#audiobooks count as reading#librarians of tumblr#adult literacy#children's literacy#reading comprehension#bookblr#booklr#books and reading#librarians#books & libraries#public libraries#reading#child literacy#school librarians
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Might be about time to turn in my 2 weeks notice
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Dream of the Endless would be a great professor, but you know what else he'd be amazing at?
Children's Librarian
Kids are full of stories. He would absolutely love to hear them and help nurture that creativity. The really young ones could be read to and have nap time. Parents would love him. Kids would love him. Hob would love him.
also it would just be really cute 😌
#the sandman#dream of the endless#morpheus#hob gadling#dreamling#maybe he's retired#maybe he's being forced to take a break by literally everyone and shares his Dreaming duties with Lucienne#bonus: Hob becomes a preschool/kindergarten teacher for his next identity and they work together#either in the same school or Hob takes his class to the library once a week#also they're married <3#children’s librarian dream
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being a children's librarian is fun because you get to look forward to not having to answer questions about the printer or the mysteries of google drive like adult services does, but then you get asked questions about phonics and AR reading levels and you realize that there are mysteries the depths of which you can never fathom but you have to try because there is a very stressed parent right in front of you
#istg grad school did *not* prepare me for phonics and AR reading levels#there are some things you learn in the mlis program and some you learn on the job and some you have to frantically research on your own tim#because you were not prepared to be seen as expert number 1 on teaching kids to read with very few actual qualifications in that arena#children's librarian#public library#tagging this although i normally don't tag my posts because if any children's librarians on this site have advice on navigating this#i would love to hear it#my boss' advice is generally don't worry about it they should be asking their child's teacher#but then some of them are homeschool parents#and some need an immediate answer and won't be able to get in touch with the teacher until after the long weekend#and some don't trust the teacher because they feel like the teacher isn't listening to their anxieties about teaching their child to read
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