Fog in the Valley

Library duty tonight. Libraries don't require quiet anymore. I don't walk around w/ a finger pressed to my lips shushing anyone. When a mother came in to use one of the computers tonight, I just smiled at the 4-year old she had in tow. However, the youngster decided to amuse herself by taking a shiny penny and dropping it on the desk - over and over again. The mother appeared to be oblivious to the noise. Since there were other people around, I decided to take action. I went over to the children's section and picked out a colorful book on puffins. I went over to the mother and asked if her little girl would like to read this book. The mother started to say that her daughter probably wouldn't sit still for it when the girl reached out for the book with both hands and yelled "Penguins!" (Well, close enough.) The penny was forgotten as the girl sat quietly looking at the pictures. We volunteer librarians are a resourceful bunch.