Learning From Patrons

 Friday, June 17, 2022 9am-1pm

    Today was another day at the children's desk. The first hour was slow, but then it picked up, and I helped many families with their reader's advisory needs. It is interesting how confident some kids are at asking an adult for help while others shy away from asking and need their parents to intervene. I also noticed that the older generation still expects a library to be a quiet place. There was a set of grandparents today that were with two toddlers. As expected, the toddlers were not soft-spoken in the library, and the grandparents were mortified that they weren't whispering. I tried reassuring them that we expected that kids would be noisy, but it was interesting that they kept trying to get their littles to whisper. 

    My reader's advisory today ranged from finding books about dinosaurs, spiders, Pokemon, and women trailblazers, to finding LGBTQIA-themed books for five-year-olds. The question today that stumped me was a young girl asking me for books on the "Lectio Award List." I found the list for her, and it was interesting to learn about it. The list is geared to 4th-8th graders, and many titles are similar to the Texas Library Association Bluebonnet and Lone Star List books. From my search, I found that the list was started by the librarian at a local Catholic private school and grew to involve a committee of librarians from the area, and has now grown to other private and public schools. The list aims to get children to read high-quality books for enjoyment that build empathy, global awareness, and critical thinking skills. It was great to learn about this new reading list while helping this young patron.

Award winning lists by the Texas Library Association for youth.

Sara Gandaría-Escamilla Geeta Halley, Site Supervisor Practicum Schedule