Tuesday, May 25, 2010

Too Many Ladybugs - A Library Story

I look back with fondness at my years as a librarian and realize that many of my more interesting days in the library involved children.  As the manager of a small library, my duties and those of all the staff could be summed up with "we do a little bit of everything."

Planning for the annual Summer Reading Program began in March and as soon as school let out in May, the library was a hub of activity.  An example of the need for quick thinking and flexibility took place one year when we were focusing on bugs and insects.  One program was about ladybugs, and we decided that we would send each child home with some ladybugs to release.  We learned that ladybugs would remain dormant if refrigerated and we placed an order for several thousand. 

We kept the sleeping ladybugs in the library's refrigerator until the morning of the program and then removed the package to put them in the hundred or so film cartridges we had collected.  We took the package into the auditorium and opened it, finding that the ladybugs were far from dormant. They were awake and very energetic and many quickly escaped into the large, open room.  We couldn't catch them, but were able to sweep them towards and out the back door of the building.  More than half of them were lost -- and probably found homes in the neighborhood gardens around town.  We were able to scoop enough of them up so that each child received a few.

I also managed to catch a few in my clothing.  They went down the front of my dress and up the skirt.  I shook a few out as I walked to the restroom and removed a few more when I was able to lift my skirt and reach down the front of my dress.  When I went home that evening, I found still more nestled in folds and crevices -- places I wouldn't have imagined that they could have been!

The program was a success and I gained a new appreciation of ladybugs, especially en masse.

This is the time of year when children all over the country are signing up for their library's summer reading program.  If you have the opportunity, you might give a special thanks to the librarians who work hard to make the summer special for the kids in your community.  They will tell you, I'm sure, that the pleasure is theirs, even when it involves the unexpected -- like thousands of ladybugs!

Annie

p.s.  The ladybug photo is from the Thomas Hawk Digital Collection.

2 comments:

Grandma in the yellow house said...

This story made me laugh, I will have to blog about the time our son decided to get rid of the wasps in our back yard.
Lois aka okiewife aka Grandma in the yellow house

Bargain Decorating with Laurie said...

Oh My Goodness! I can imagine that would be a vivid memory! I enjoyed reading about it. You visited my blog and I had mentioned Steele, MO. I live in Ark., but I'm still very close to Steele. It really is a small world - especially with the internet. laurie

LinkWithin

Related Posts with Thumbnails

Recently Read Fiction Favorites

  • A Northern Light by Jennifer Donnelly
  • A Reliable Wife by Robert Goolrick
  • Alice I Have Been by Melanie Benjamin
  • Between, Georgia by Joshilyn Jackson
  • Bridge of Sighs by Richard Russo
  • Broken for You by Stephanie Kallos
  • Confessions of a Former Rock Queen by Kirk Bjornsgaard
  • Every Last One by Anna Quindlen
  • Faithful Place by Tana French
  • Fly Away Home by Jennifer Weiner
  • Freedom by Jonathan Franzen
  • Gods in Alabama by Joshilyn Jackson
  • Home Safe by Elizabeth Berg
  • Homer and Langley by E.L. Doctorow
  • Innocent by Scott Turow
  • My Name is Mary Sutter by Robin Oliveira
  • Noah's Compass by Anne Tyler
  • Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout
  • Private Life by Jane Smiley
  • Remarkable Creatures by Tracy Chevalier
  • Roses by Leila Meacham
  • Sing Them Home by Stephanie Kallos
  • So Much For That by Lionel Shriver
  • South of Broad by Pat Conroy
  • That Old Cape Magic by Richard Russo
  • The Children's Book by A.S. Byatt
  • The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest by Steig Larsson
  • The Girl Who Stopped Swimming by Joshilyn Jackson
  • The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo by Steig Larsson
  • The Given Day by Dennis Lehane
  • The Good Daughters by Joyce Maynard
  • The Help by Kathryn Stockett
  • The Last Time I Saw You by Elizabeth Berg
  • The Lonely Polygamist by Brady Udall
  • The Murderer's Daughters by Randy Susan Meyers
  • The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake by Aimee Bender
  • The Sky Took Him by Donis Casey
  • The Slap by Christos Tsiolkas
  • The Story of Edgar Sawtelle by David Wroblewski
  • The Swimming Pool by Holly LeCraw
  • The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet by David Mitchell
  • The Wind Comes Sweeping by Marcia Preston
  • Where the God of Love Hangs Out by Amy Bloom
  • Wolf Hall by Hillary Mandel
  • World Without End by Ken Follett
  • Year of Wonders: A Novel of the Plague by Geraldine Brooks

Favorite Nonfiction and Memoir

  • All Over but the Shoutin' by Rick Bragg
  • Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life by Barbara Kingsolver
  • Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life by Anne Lamott
  • Book Lust: Recommended Reading for Every Mood, Moment and Reason by Nancy Pearl
  • Getting Over Getting Older by Lettie Cottin Pogrebin
  • Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis
  • Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting by in America by Barbara Ehrenreich
  • Sharing the Journey: Women Reflecting on Life's Passages by Katherine Ball Ross
  • Stuff: Compulsive Hoarding and the Meaning of Things by Randy O. Frost
  • The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen R. Covey
  • The Artist's Way: A Spiritual Path to Higher Creativity by Julia Cameron
  • The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin by Benjamin Franklin
  • The Children's Blizzard by David Laskin
  • The Emperor of all Maladies: A Biography of Cancer by Siddhartha Mukherjee
  • The Four Agreements: A Practical Guide to Personal Freedom by Miguel Ruiz
  • The Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell
  • The Worst Hard Time: The Untold Story of Those Who Survived the Great American Dustbowl by Timothy Egan