ACTIVITY FOR SCHOOL LIBRARIES

THE LIBRARY ACTIVITY

by Tommy

Activity Book for School Libraries is so dry and boring

it hurts. The librarian I work with brought it (and

some other old gems) because she was cleaning out

her bookshelves at home, and thought maybe we could

get some store credit at the used bookstore for it.

I was like, "Um... they're not going to want this.

But I do!"

Rarely have I seen such incredibly labored writing, as if

the author is TRYING to make us hate the whole idea

of a school library. It is truly painful to read, and that

is its beauty. Of course the stick figure illustrations

are just the grim icing on a very depressing cake.

Please click the image below and

read just the one paragraph, so you'll know what I'm

talking about. I know it's unpleasant, but... please.

I would also like to mention a few selections from

Chapter Three: Auditorium and Assembly. The author

presents helpful suggestions for doing library-related

presentations during school assemblies. One of the

suggested activities is "Stage conversations." Here is

where the book really shows its wispy grey hairs:

Stage conversations -- programs in which several pupils

engage in informal conversation for the benefit of the audience--

may be planned to lead into library topics

or events of literary interest:

"Hello, John!" Goin' to a movie this week?"

"Sure, if I can find a keen one."

"Better try 'The Life of Louis Pasteur' then. I saw it last night.

And say, believe it or not, I beat it to the library this morning to

get a book about that man. Miss White has got a lot of them out

where they're handy."

Then, along with "Puppets," "The pantomime," and

"Book and character parades," we are told of

something confusing and sinister called

"The shadowgraph." I quote:

The shadowgraph is useful for demonstrating the right

and the wrong way in library usage. This is a variation of the

pantomime in which, by manipulating the light forward and

backward or sending it at a different angle, ordinarily normal

actions become grotesque. For example, grabbing a returned

book before the circulation assistant has a chance to discharge it

may be made ridiculous by exaggerating the "reach"

required to get the book.

Did the author really have to use words like

"discharge," and "grotesque?"

I work in a library, and I try hard

to keep my "discharges" private.