Library Day

When I was a little girl I loved visiting the library.  It seemed like such a magical kind of place.  My mom volunteered as a storyteller at a big children’s library in a bigger city so she could get a free library pass.  The town I grew up in had zero access to a library system.  But that big children’s library was awesome.  Tall stained glass windows of fairytales and floors of books and places to sit and read.  And with all that wonderfulness I still always ended up in the basement of the attached adult wing poring over books of houseplans.  I was a nerd from a very young age.  Anyway, moving on.

We’ve lived here for five years, and it was just a few months ago that I ventured out to our city library.  And it is awful.  Dark, dirty and a place where old books go to die.  Thankfully, they have a deal with the neighboring city library and I can go there.  Thankfully.  Anyway, after the first time visiting I realized that I really needed a library bag.  Because there was no way I could carry my stuff, Creamie’s stuff and the books and still chase her and/or drop everything at a moments notice for a potty break.  So, I started looking around my collection to see if I had something that would work.

And I found the perfect bag.  A great big bag made of heavy duty canvas, thick straps the perfect length and a zipper pocket inside for keys, phone, chapstick, handsanitizer, library card, and the printout of the books I need to remember to bring back.  Too bad it was ugly.  A handmedown from my sister, who used to work for a scrapbooking magazine and ended up with boxes of swag.  But I am so not crazy about the logo on the front and the sponsor list on the back.  So I improved it.

See, much much better.  I used some cute fabric and sewed on panels to cover up all the ugly labels and logos.  I just cut a piece to size, pressed the seam allowances to the center and topstitched it in place. The hardest part was getting my sewing machine down inside the bottom of the pockets to stitch across the bottom.  This would be a much easier fix on a messenger style bag.  No trying to fit sewing machines inside small pockets!

Our latest trip to the library was a good one.  I am so glad I brought my camera.  It fit right inside that giant bookbag with plenty of room for the 22 books we brought home.  One day I’m going to max out my library card in number of books brought home.  But I think my bag could still handle it.

I found some of my favorite books from my childhood to bring home to read to Creamie.  I have loved reading her the books my mom read to me, and some of them books my mom read to her littlest sister.  The Flicka, Ricka and Dicka books, Snip, Snap, Snur were always my favorites.  Creamie is in love with the Little Bear stories.  She is particularly interested in his mothers sewing machine. (Cue heart swelling with pride music here.) Most of these books are still a little old for her, but that doesn’t stop her.  Or me.  I am constantly amazed at how much she remembers and understands from books that seem too involved and stories that seem too complicated for a 2 year old.  Yeah, my kid is awesome.

She laid down right here and read books to me for more than a half an hour before she remembered the big park that was outside.  And as soon as we got home, she was ready to read stories again.  It is one of her favorite things to do.  The other night I think we read 15 books in a row before she had her fill.  And that makes me happy.

The past few days she has been requesting one ponytail “like mommy’s one big ponytail.”  She is so sweet sometimes.  I love it.  Though that one ponytail makes her look a lot more grown up to me.  Maybe it’s just me.