Library Lil
by Suzanne Williams, Illustrated by Steven Kellogg
This is the book for anyone who's always felt that West Side Story should have
featured a throw-down between a librarian with preternatural upper body strength
and a motorcycle gang led by Bust-'em-up Bill. The story begins with Lil, who by
age eight had read all the children's books in her hometown library and had
moved on to entire encyclopedia sets. Her industrious reading habits were
matched only by her unbelievably strong arms; she once lifted a car to retrieve
a soccer ball! Lil grew up to be a librarian in the town of Chesterville, but no
one showed up at her storytelling festivals or to check out her fabulous new
books. The problems was that the citizens of Chesterville were too busy with
what Library Lil called the "Devil's Invention": television. But when a storm
knocks out the town's power for two weeks, Lil canvasses the streets with the
bookmobile and gets the townsfolk reading again. Just when it looks like "happy
ever after" has arrived, Bust-'em-up Bill and his gang ride into town, furious
that the local pool hall doesn't have a television for them to watch Tuesday
night wrestling. Without giving too much away, let's just say that Lil's ability
to hoist a motorcycle without batting an eye comes in handy during her showdown
with the gang. And when it's all said and done, she might even have found a
sweetheart.
Library Lil delivers a great message about tenacity and sticking up for what you
believe in. Steven Kellogg's incredibly rich illustrations encourage multiple
readings of this slightly tall tale. Keep an eye out for Lil's ginger cat,
Secondhand Rose, who is never far from her side. A terrific alternative to the
Devil's Invention, for readers of all ages (unless, of course, it's a Tuesday
night ...).
Beverly Billingsly Borrows a Book
by Alexander Stadler
Beverly went to the library weekly with her mother, but this Tuesday was special
-- it was the day she would get her very own library card! Mrs. DelRubio, the
new librarian, asked Beverly many questions, but Beverly was able to answer each
one without her mother's help. Proudly using her newly-acquired privileges,
Beverly borrows Dinosaurs of the Cretaceous Period, and reads it "everywhere --
at the dinner table, in bed, even in the tub." Unfortunately, her avid reading
makes her lose track of the date. The night she finishes the last page, she
notices that the book is a day overdue. At school the next day, other kids share
their knowledge of what happens when a book is overdue. Beverly is unable to eat
supper that night, and after waking from a nightmare shares her concerns with
her mother. "'Don't worry, honey,'" her mother comforts, "'Nobody ever went to
jail for an overdue library book.'" The next day after school, Beverly and her
mother return the book, and Beverly learns that her interest in dinosaurs is
shared by other classmates.
Beverly Billingsly Borrows a Book is a picture book with a cute plot, and the
tales told by her classmates are amusingly hyperbolic. There are some
chronological inconsistencies, and the ending seems to drag out a bit, but
overall it is enjoyable. Certainly worth snuggling up with your (or a borrowed!)
youngster for fun read. Recommended for children ages 4 - 8.
The Librarian from the Black Lagoon
by Mike Thaler, Illustrated by Jared Lee
"Today our class is going to the library. We've been hearing some really scary
things about the place." Scary things, indeed! As the narrator and his
classmates prepare to travel to the "Media Center of the Earth," they enumerate
the many perils they will face in the library. For example, just getting into
the library requires passing through a decontamination room and a gum detector
as ominous little critters stand by and pass out hairnets and rubber gloves.
Obstacles inside the library itself include books bolted to electrified shelves,
chairs with glue on the seats to prevent wriggling, and a computer
with a real mouse. But worst of all is the librarian herself, a growling,
oversized pink creature with spiky teeth and abundant personal hygiene issues.
If you whisper on her turf, you might get laminated! But as the students round
the corner and enter the library, a pleasant surprise greets them: a librarian
so sweet that bluebirds flutter around her!
The Librarian from the Black Lagoon is one of a series of similarly titled
books, including The Cafeteria Lady from the Black Lagoon and The School Bus
Driver from the Black Lagoon. The illustrations are appropriately jumpy and
jittery, matching the mood of the students as they trek toward unknown hazards.
These books will help young students to work through their first-day-of-school
nerves, but there's plenty for adults to enjoy, as well. Many of the librarian
stereotypes will make MLIS students chuckle!
The Librarian and the Robbers
by Margaret Mahy, Illustrated by Quentin Blake
"One day Serena Laburnum, the beautiful librarian, was carried off by wicked
robbers." Envisioning great riches of City Council ransom money, the robbers are
foiled by beaurocracy and "the dread disease of Raging Measles." While City
Council debates the appropriate fund for providing the ransom, the robbers
develop a case of itchy spots. Ms. Laburnum chides the robbers, "It is no part
of a librarian's duty to take any robber seriously, spotty or otherwise." She
then elicits permission from the Chief Robber, the only healthy criminal, to
return to her library and borrow the highly informative Dictionary of Efficient
and Efficacious Home Nursing so that she can tend to the ailing robbers. As his
band is nursed back to health, the Chief Robber becomes more interested in books
than in kidnapping, and Serena returns to her job as soon as the robbers are
fully recovered. Story over? Not quite! About three weeks later, the Chief
Robber bursts into the library and begs Ms. Laburnum for her assistance. How
does a beautiful librarian rescue a Chief Robber from the Law? Only in the most
orderly and "by the book" manner, of course! But "Perhaps she herself was more
of a robber at heart than anyone ever suspected..."
Bound as a single item with The Great Piratical Rumbustification, The Librarian
and the Robbers is an enjoyable, humorous tale with just a touch of the absurd.
The self-reliant, beautiful, and resourceful librarian, who doesn't technically
bend the rules, is a delightful contrast to the typical librarian pictured in
books. With two stories celebrating roguish reform, Margaret Mahy must be a bit
of a robber herself! Recommended for readers age 9 to 12.
The Librarian Who Measured the Earth
by Kathryn Lasky, Illustrated by Kevin Hawkes
Eratosthenes liked to organize information. From the time he was born in Cyrene,
Greece, over two thousand years ago, he constantly asked questions to make sense
of the world around him. When not asking questions about the sun, the stars, and
the wind, he studied his favorite topic: geography. He became known not only as
a great questioner, but as a great list-maker, documenting the winners of the
Olympic games and important dates in Greek history. After moving to Alexandria
and being appointed head librarian of the Alexandria Museum, Eratosthenes got to
work on his greatest project: measuring the circumference of the earth. Using
shadows, angles, and bematists (surveyors trained to walk with equal steps in
order to measure distances), he calculated the earth's circumference to be
24,662 miles. That's within two hundred miles of our modern measurements!
Eratosthenes' measurements formed the basis of the first mathematically correct
atlas of the world, his Geographica.
Warm, sun-drenched illustrations peopled with jaunty characters draw the reader
into a long-ago period in history. Interesting facts pepper the text; for
example, did you know that punctuation was invented by Aristophanes at the
Alexandria Museum? While not exactly a page-turner, this book does provide some
little-known information on both libraries themselves and one particular
librarian whose questioning spirit changed our knowledge of the world.