I think I like my non-job description duties even more than the ones for which I get paid.

The other librarians keep asking me if I had a good time at the conference, but nobody seems to want to hear about how I'm applying what I learned. Boss-Lady has decided that I and the other librarian who attended will be speaking at tomorrow's librarians' meeting, so I guess I will eventually have my captive audience, no matter how reluctant they may be.

That little girl is fretting again. Hang on...

Okay, she was chewing on whatever books she could find and throwing them about the floor in frustration, so I went to find the parents. By the time we returned, the brother had stripped his little sister out of her dress and was looking tremendously guilty, thought the little girl looked much happier. I don't pretend to understand the by-play there, but the fretting has stopped with the arrival of Mama.

A new reference librarian is here for the first time today. She seems nice, if a little brisk. Maybe she's used to faster paces than the one carried by our library. She'll catch on nicely, though I'm glad not to be working any shifts alone with her for a few months.

Little Miss has been brought over into the children's section, and is jubilantly pointing at the pictures from children's stories painted all over my desk. I'll be back in a bit.

Oh, I'm glad I took the time to go and be with that child! She's a little sweetie who took my hand to lead me to various pictures and toys. Remembering that I had found her mother and father poring over high school equivalency exam materials, and remembering that I'd never seen either child in the library before, I found myself recalling the lectures on family literacy from last week. Was this child being exposed to books? I tried to lead her to the board books, but she was completely uninterested in anything I attempted to show her. I tried again, coaxing with a Spot book and managed to pique her interest enough to get her to let me read her a few pages before she ran off again.

Her father was watching with amusement. I approached him. "How old is she?"

"Two."

"Oh, great!" I smiled. "Once we've moved into our temporary quarters, we'll begin storytimes, and we have a two-year-old storytime that would be just perfect for her! You should really bring her." He smiled, but didn't commit to the idea. Undaunted, I waited until the mother came over to me, and then pitched the same idea to her. This time I had more success; Mother made notes of the session times and said that they might try to come.

I'm well aware that this little girl will probably have a very difficult time with sitting still long enough for the whole storytime. If she doesn't get the chance to try, though, how much more trouble might she have when she begins school? How likely is she to enjoy reading for herself if she never is exposed to the joy of books? I don't know that she's not being read to at home, truthfully, but I'd feel guilty wondering if I was the one who could have opened the door for her, and I failed.

Overdramatic, much? So shoot me.

My own will was strongly aided by the fact that I was suddenly struck by one of those fly-by-night head colds. I had a little sniffle during church, but at nightfall I got hit hard out of nowhere with congestion and sneezing fits. I was fighting my own battle of wills just trying to stay away from the medicine cabinet, decongestants being verboten for maximum female fertility. I was just as successful as Eric, thank God, and when I woke up this morning, the cold had disappeared, leaving me simply with one of those slightly sore throats that one develops from breathing through one's mouth all night.

All in all, last night was not a pleasant night. Tonight, though, should be a major improvement for all concerned. I can't wait to get home!