Because the pile of "damaged beyond my magical librarian abilities to repair" books had grown a little too large for my liking, I decided to give the "respect your books, be responsible with them, and tell me the truth about hurt library books" speech.
The speech begins when the students enter the library. I don an extremely somber face and say, "I am so sorry that I have to begin your library time by talking about something very sad. We are having a real problem in our library. Many of our library books are being ripped, colored in, chewed on, and spilled on. Let me show you what I mean-"
At this point I show them the samples I have collected (see below), pausing for dramatic effect as I toss the books into a trash can conveniently located beside me and secretly reveling in the horrified faces of the children. After all, it is nice that they find damaged books as much of an atrocity as I do.
Then I make the emotional plea. "I really need your help to keep our books safe. So here's what you can do. Number 1-Take care of your library books. Keep them away from food, from pets and from little brothers and sisters who don't know how to take care of library books. Number 2-Be honest when something happens to your library book. I will never get mad at someone who tells me the truth. Do you think that you can do these things for me?"
Heads shake in earnest. It is a glorious sight.
Of course, after this talk every student becomes a self appointed library policeman-informing me of every smudge and tear that exists on any and every book.
But there are also some extremely precious moments.
One boy, upon hearing that I was going to have to throw away Diary of a Spider, buried his head in his hands and lamented, "But that was my favorite book!" I know sweetheart, I know.
A second grade girl stopped me in the hall this morning to console me, saying, "Mrs. Curry, I'm sorry about your books."
One little boy couldn't take the horror anymore. He covered his eyes and exclaimed, "I can't watch anymore. I just can't."
But the best observation of all-"You know Mrs. Curry, throwing away a book is like losing a good friend. It hurts."
(Please note the horrified look on Arthur's face, and the fact that the spider is yelling for help. It is almost as if they knew the fate that awaited them)
(A puppy chewed up this book, which is, ironically, about cats)
(For the record, Junie B. is NOT happy about her makeover)
5 comments:
That post is priceless. True confessions: I am a former bookworm. And had my librarian trashed Henry Huggins by Beverly Cleary, I would probably still be in treatment.
I love this post! It sounds like you are just too awesome at your job. And the kids are so cute, or their reactions, anyway.
Nathan really liked this post, too. His favorite was the little boy who buried his face in his hands in lament.
You just crack me up. Of course, I can relate working in an elementary school library myself.
THD is precious. Thanks for sharing your enthusiasm.
How funny.
We just went through this with Brea. I started reading to her the other night from the stack of library books we had checked out and I noticed some pencil marks that had not been there upon our earlier readings. When questioned, she did tell the truth, but she didn't get to hear her stories for that night. I really wanted to discipline her more because it is not something I want her to repeat, but I figured the "You need to always tell the truth" lesson was more important at the moment. I spent some time with the eraser while watching "So you think you can dance."
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