Books That Need Love

If you frequent the picture book bins here at RML, you may have seen the one labeled "Books That Need Love". It's a follow-up to the same one I did a few years ago - the last time I went through and weeded the entire picture book collection. Last time, we added slips in the books so that the patrons could tell us if they liked the story (and we should keep it), or if they thought we could discard it. 
(I'd like to add a note here to gently remind everyone that we HAVE to get rid of books sometimes. They fall apart, they get 'crummy' looking, and sometimes they've just had their time. Plus, that's how we make room for shiny new books!) 
Anyway, our project didn't work last time because everyone wanted us to keep everything! So this year, I've had to make some hard decisions, but there are always those books that are in good shape, and are still relevant today. And I want to keep them. Even though you guys haven't taken them out in a LONG TIME! Hence, the Books That Need Love bin.
So here are a few of the titles in the bin that I'd like to highlight. They are great books, and sometimes they just don't get love because they are on a low shelf or maybe they don't fit into any specific categories so we don't often put them on display.
Come check out the books that NEED LOVE!!!

 

You can't go wrong with illustrations by Simms Taback. 

 

 This reminds me of my childhood, so I can't get rid of it. Take it out!

 If you've ever sung this song to a child, they'll want to see it illustrated.

 Perfect for your little train lover! You'll feel like you're actually in a miniature train set.

It's complete at 34 words. But it says so much about how to make a friend. Love it.

 

A party with a crocodile, elephant, and hedgehogs? C'mon!

Monster Mini Golf @ the Library!

It was one of those things I always wanted to do. Play mini golf in the Library of course! Halloween seemed like the perfect time, plus I had a willing co-worker and a bunch of teen volunteers which was key. 

The weather cooperated (though it was tad windy) since we had 4 of the 9 holes outside. Ultimately, with the rest of the staff pitching in, it worked out great!
We had 3 time slots that families could sign up for - 4-5pm, 5-6pm, and 6-7pm. This kept the event from being crazy! We also limited it to 9 families per hour, mostly due to a limited number of clubs. If we had more, I think we could have done 12-15 families an hour. 
My partner in crime for this event, Christine, made up these great scorecards:

 We had some refreshments (Monster eyeballs and inspiration courtesy of Pinterest (Library Mini Golf Board) and a Halloween prize wheel I found at Oriental Trading

Here are the 9 monster-themed holes we created:

The Big Green Monster

 The Grinch

 Monster High

 Cookie Monster

 

 Storytime Friends

The Headless Horseman

 Frankie Stein

 It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown

 The Spooks of Halloween

 Tired pumpkins at the end of the day!