Virgin's Bower

 

Summer Reading Program at the Library - Adventure under the Stars.    Volunteer Ginger arrived soon after I started my shift and outlined the night's activities.  As usual, before the start of the  program, kids would drop off books, check out new books, and 'spin the wheel' for prizes because they had read during the week.  At 6 she would read a book to them in the reading corner.  The activity after that would be sticking peel-off glow-in-the-dark dots on black squares of construction paper to make constellations to take w/ them.   A second activity was taking dixie cups and poking holes in the bottom in the form of constellations.   She would drape the long reading tables at the back of the library in black table cloths that reached the floor.   Children could get under the tables and shine a flashlight up through the cup projecting their pin-dot constellations on the underside of the table.  OK.  I suggested the children use the Young Adult area for creating their 'constellations'.  I supplemented the one table there w/ other short tables for the children to work at.  She was anxious to have the reading area tables draped before the children came but a library patron was sitting at one working on a laptop.   I sat down across from the patron and explained that in an hour forty gradeschool children would be descending on the library and it would become quite loud.  I had a quiet place where he could continue to work or a chair where he could work but still be able to watch the chaos.   He was very understanding and opted for quiet.   I showed him to the book sale room which has a table and chairs.  As Ginger taped table cloths, I moved the chairs against the wall.  To make it dark enough under the tables I closed the blinds on the library windows.    The pie'ce de r'esistance, though, was when I turned off all of the lights in the library except the one over my desk.  As the kids arrived they were enchanted by the aura of a darkened library.   When it came time to start, I turned on the light over the reading area which drew everyone that way.   I turned that light off after the book was done and turned on the one where the kids would be working on their activities.  The rest of the time I was busy w/ my own duties - those little kids can read a lot of books - but from the squeals and laughter, tonight sounded like a success.