December is a slow month in the library--at least at my library. The weather is bad, so nobody wants to get out and about. Today we had around 4 inches of snow. If you live in the country, it takes all day just to plough out.
It's also the Christmas season. In their spare time, people are shopping, baking, or writing Christmas cards. They don't have as much leisure time to read.
Children are in school--at least until a few days before Christmas, plus with the colder weather, they probably want to stay inside instead of venturing out to the library after school.
So what do we do when the books are all put away and the holds are pulled?
1) We decorate--we've gotten our two tiny trees and our plastic poinsetta out of the closets. We also have gold garlands hung from the ceiling with ornaments on the ends of them. And of course, we have our many books about Christmas on display.
2) We plan. Winter storytime is coming up. I've gotten a great book called Storytime around the Year and the "mitten' and "valentine" themes sound very promising. I've made a list of themes and now I am working on the activities, crafts, music and books to match.
3)We work on committees. I'm on the wellness committee and we've been e-mailing back and forth about how to conduct the program this year. The Biggest Loser concept seems like it might work. We did a plan like that a few years ago and it was successful, but some of us want more focus on healthy habits, like exercise and nutrition.
4) Okay, let's face it, we're not productive every minute. We shop a little on-line. We browse through Seventeen magazine for ideas on what to get our neices for Christmas. We drink a cup of Christmas tea and we write our blog.
