He was thrilled to start our adventure so I headed off to the local library with an eager LB in tow. It was quite timely that one of the few times we let him watch TV, Daniel Tiger shared a real people scene with a little boy venturing to the library with his Dad. This let LB envision what to expect. If you've read some of my other posts about him you know LB really likes to have a handle on exactly what to expect in a new situation. I try my best to explain new experiences before we go but a picture is worth a 1,000 words right? Seeing a picture of a library with a little guy like him picking out books made things come together for him and when we arrived he was not at all weary (like usual) but instead quite comfortable, more so than I expected.
We entered the children's section on the right where a dozen books are on display on top of the child size bookcases, he grabbed a few interesting covers and was ready to go. Once I explained we can explore all the books on the shelves he was curious and was checking out titles on all the shelves. We stopped in the holiday section but most of the Christmas books were checked out so LB spent a little time in the board book section to the left of the holiday books. I stood back and watched him "read" a few different books, pulling each off the shelf, flipping through the pages and putting it back where it belongs. It was like watching a little man perusing the book store and made my heart happy. This book set up was also very easy for his little hands to maneuver, appealing for our "I'm independent" toddler.
As I shared on instagram LB found himself some books in the non-fiction section (of course) about animals (of course). A few months ago we visited friends in Portland who had a book series each about a different animal, I think there were 30+ books? Anyhow LB loved them, especially the one about Bison, go figure. I also grabbed a book on naptime (current struggle), Peter Rabbit (long-time fave) and a book for his sister.
A few tips: To be honest I found the kids area a little hard to navigate, while also encouraging LB to speak in a whisper. It probably would have been helpful to prime him a bit more on the whispering concept, particularly WHY we need to since I know he is perfectly capable and has lots of practice from being around his sleepy little sister. If you've never been to the kids section of your library before I suggest you go there before you take your kids, gain your bearings and understand the selection. I can see some children becoming overwhelmed with the options at first so knowing where the animal books or simple, possibly more familiar board books are might help the trip from being a total bust the first time or two. Of course always letting their curiosity guide them is best but when something is overwhelming you'll feel better if you can confidently redirect to something positive while your child becomes more comfortable with the new environment. Next time I will also come armed with a larger list of titles and authors I think LB will like, I had a few Llama Llama books I was looking for but they were all checked out.
(Side note: Most libraries have a website where you can see if a particular book is checked out and when it is due back, in some cases you can even put the books on hold.)
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