Just the Facts Ma'am

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It's official, I am a card holder at the Lewis and Clark County Public Library! Woot woot! Which is great because I have finally started working on Sleeping Beauty again and I've been able to take advantage of the library's general peace and quiet (and Ed's day off) to get some writing done and to check out some fun research materials that pertain to my story.

Here is the fact-laden goodness I am currently reading. Yum!

A couple of odd facts:

1. The juvie non-fiction is interfiled with the adult non-fiction at ye ol' Lewis and Clark County Public Library, which means that picture book of Sleeping Beauty is on the same shelf as the "Hard Facts of the Grimms' Fairytales," which spends quite a bit of time highlighting the lovely subjects of rape, incest and cannibalism. However, I suppose you could argue so does the original versions of the Grimms' tales which I wouldn't be surprised to see filed in Juvie. Still, it's weird to me.

2. My many, many years volunteering, and working, in the Los Angeles County Public Library systems have permanently damaged my brain. I apparently have the Dewey Decimal system still random access memory filed away in my noggin. I didn't have to look at the catalog once, I just went directly to the 398s for fairytales and the 535s for the gemology - like a homing pigeon that's been set free in a forest of non-fiction. Bing! There I was in front of the right section without much conscious thought. It was actually disconcerting. I don't have room in my brain for this nonsense. I forget things that have actually happened to me and yet, I've got a whole numeric filing system in there? Couldn't that space be used for more convenient (like spelling words I've long forgotten) or romantic (foreign language anyone?) purposes?

I did, however, manage to get about 2,000 words our of my head and onto a page on Friday, so here is hoping new scenes of Sleeping Beauty can take up residence in my head and wait for their turn on the page.

Maddie goes to the library

The Los Angeles County Public Library system was an integral part of my family when I was young.  I remember my Mom having to organize who was checking out which books based on what was currently still on our cards at home so as not to max out the fifty book lending limit per card.  As homeschoolers the library was really more an extended classroom  than just a fun place to go (although it was fun!).  We had a great children's librarian, and she actually ended up at the library closer to us after we moved (not really sure if we followed her or she followed us), so we had the same librarian for over a decade.  I volunteered (for the same librarian) for years, got a county library award (ahem, nerd alert) for it, spoke to a group of librarians about homeschooling, and worked at a library in my late teens.  I  know the Dewey decimal system like the back of my hand.  Once while playing Taboo with friends, another friend who worked at a LA County Library was able to get me to guess words by telling me where books on that subject were located in said Dewey decimal system (I am realizing more and more what a geek I really am as I type this).  I hated finding books at my university library because they didn't use Dewey and it messed with my head.  I digress . . .

Getting a library card is a rite of passage in our family.  Yesterday, Maddie, James, and I walked down to our little local branch on Alondra and got Maddie a card.  She was very excited by the library, and being able to take home books.  I had to sign her full name on the back of the card which was kind of odd, I only think I've written it out once or twice.  She even got a canvas book bag for opening an account, although next time I think she will use her My Friends Tigger and Pooh backpack because she loves it and can actually carry it.  Because she was (relatively) well behaved at the library we got mini donuts on the way home.

(Please excuse the quality of the pictures, they were taken on my phone . . . 

also, who knew that Yum Yum Donuts on Alondra and Pioneer is really, really nice inside?  Like, nicer than Starbucks . . .  they have granite!)

We read three of her books last night, several times each.  It cracks me up that she puts her finger to her mouth and says "shhhhh!" every time she asks for the Goodnight Sleepyhead book.

I am so proud of my little bookworm!

This lovely little story is called Maisy Goes to the Library, we have read it four times