Me? A librarian????

What, you may ask, is a "volunteer librarian"? Well, I happen to be the dad of a first grader at a public elementary school that just started this year. I became head of the "library committee" before I knew that there was no budget to stock a library, nor was there going to be money for a librarian. It was gonna be volunteers or nothing... and I decided early on that even though the system would let us open our school without a library, we would NOT do that.

My qualifications for being a librarian? Professionally, I have none. However, I happen to be a member of the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI), and I have a huge passion for picture books and children's poetry. I know the words Dewey Decimal. And I'm a good readaloud guy, if I say so myself. But it turns out that there were two things that enabled me to spearhead this project: enthusiasm and my ability to be a massive pest.

When I started working on the library in late April, we had 50 books gathered from two fund-raising yard sales. By December, we topped 9,000 volumes, fully cataloged and shelved by Dewey (hooray for the software from readerware.com!), with a few hundred books in circulation all the time. The goal I always had was to make the library as much fun as possible, not a dull place with no sense of joy. We may be entirely volunteer run and staffed, but we're a hit: kids at our school WANT to come into the library. This is not only testament to a lot of hard work on our end but also to the incredible power of all the amazing books written for children.

The library is the best project I've worked on in my life. This blog will be an attempt to share what I've learned there and in my own writing/web surfing/reading all as it relates (sometimes loosely!) to the world of children's literature. I have no desire to speak of the changes needed to the education system (though it needs changes), nor will I ever type long entries on the intricacies of the Dewey Decimal system (not just cuz that'd be dull but more because I just don't know any). Other than that, though, I make no promises.

Ahh, the first entry... and late at night, no less. Yup... I think blogging's gonna be alright. So I'll catch you all soon, but for now I gotta book.