Bookmarks

 Who really knows how collections start...or how they might shape your development without you realizing it? I don't remember my first bookmark, and honestly, I've always been one to leave a book open upside down rather than using a bookmark like a civilized person. Yet, decades before I ended up a librarian, these started accumulating in a bedroom drawer.

Yet somehow, I've accumulated quite the collection of bookmarks. Clearly cats, Garfield, and Harry Potter played large roles in my childhood. Some were free, many were from Scholastic book sales (note the colored yarn for those), and the rest were given from people's travels. I wonder if bookmarks will continue to remain popular for gifts with the advent of ereaders?   

Here are some new additions that I was given this summer, from California, Virginia, and Tanzania. Note that the giraffe bookmark hand-carved wood.

Baltimore Book Festival

Fall days are here up north, and Baltimore recently hosted a fun book festival. It's always good to have time to wander the city, listen to authors, and explore tents and tents of books new and old. Definitely a worthwhile day. 

 

Welcome! 

 

 Lifesize Scrabble. 

 Wimpy Kid Bookmobile. 

  Outdoor Reading Lounge.

 Tiger Beat, made up of authors Natalie Standiford, Libba Bray, Daniel Ehrenhaft, and Barney Miller

One of my favorite classical libraries, the main library at the Peabody Conservatory.

Bonus points...or maybe a candy bar. Why did the band Tiger Beat choose its name?

Epic Noise Reduction Fail?

While this picture only shows two players, I have 20+ chess players in my library each day during lunch. I limited boards to 3, yet these are enterprising lads. Other options include:
 
iPad chess. 

Chess that rotates players after each turn. 

Chess tournaments. 

Chess groupies. 

It can get noisy. 

I've heard mixed feedback about decibel readers in libraries, so I conducted an experiment. I placed the Too Noisy app next to the students as they exuberantly played chess.

It's a simple app for little kids, so you either have a smiley face, a worried face, or a sad face amidst storm clouds. It was  too much fun to make the face cry, so noise increased. The same boys who had been unintentionally loud minutes before were now intentionally clapping and whistling. Epic fail?

At lunch today, the boys asked for the app (I wasn't planning to use it again), shushed themselves, and were young gentlemen. Will Too Noisy make a repeat visit to the chess table? Still thinking...