The first day of school is such an exciting time for kids. By the time school starts, kids are sick of summer. All the fun stuff they’d had to look forward to-vacation, camp, lessons, etc.- is over. They’re sick of the pool. It’s too hot. There’s nothing good on TV. They’ve read all the books in the whole library and gotten their Summer Reading Club prizes. They can’t wait for the novelty of the first day of school with new classes, new teachers, new stuff to learn and new friends.

The people at the library couldn’t wait for school to start when we were kids, too. We fondly recall our own first day of school memories:

Nichole, a shelver, recalls that in fourth grade, her parents went to “meet the teacher” day prior to her first day of school. The teacher had each parent write a letter to their child, which she then collected. The letters were waiting for the students in their desks when they arrived for the new school year. While she doesn’t remember exactly what the letter contained, Nichole does remember it was so sweet, it made her cry!

Reference associate Celise remembers that, starting in junior high, she wore a white button up shirt and cool new jeans on the first day of school every year.

Mark, our circulation manager, remembers that he always enjoyed the first day of school because it meant new shoes. They had to last the whole year, but they were new and exciting that day!

Our children’s associate, Diana, was a teacher before she came to work at the library. She has more memories about the first day of school from the teacher’s side of the desk than the student side. She remembers how scary it was to think about meeting all those new kids. They know your name, but you don’t know most of theirs.

And me? I always remember that while I looked forward to the start of school, I really didn’t much appreciate the first day. The first day of school was filled with all those administrative items: filling out paperwork, getting textbooks, learning the new rules. I always found it tiresome to have to be told “No gum in class this year. Here’s where we keep the hall pass.” I like the second day of school better, when you cracked open the new texbook and starting learning something new!

Add your favorite first day of school memory in the comments, please!

Here’s the situation: someone, maybe one of your kids, has something overdue. You call the library and politely ask that they tell you what it is so that you can go look for it. AND THEY WON’T TELL YOU WHAT IT IS! They tell you that YOU have to have the library card number so YOU can find out what your own kid needs to bring back so that YOU don’t run up a bunch of fines. Whose idea was this?

Well…we have this policy about not revealing to anyone (at least without a court order) what anyone else happens to be reading or watching. That means we won’t tell parents what their kids are reading, and we won’t tell kids what their parents are watching. The policy is based on a philosophy that goes clear back to Saint Lawrence the Librarian, who was martyred in A.D. 258 for refusing to tell the Roman authorities who was checking stuff out of the Church library. After all, if the Romans had a list of borrowers from the Church library, they would have a list of Christians all ready to persecute. One stop shopping.

Anyway, Saint Lawrence wouldn’t squeal, and, according to legend, the Romans were so angry that they grilled him, literally (which is why he’s also the patron saint of cooks). Supposedly, at the moment of his death he told them (this is so cool) “Assum est, inquit, versa et manduca,” or, “This side’s done, turn me over and eat!” The moral of the story is, sorry, we can’t tell you what anyone else has checked out. If you want to keep track of your kids’s stuff, or even your parents’, write down their card number so you have it.

The Feast Day of Saint Lawrence is August 10^th, and if you feel like celebrating along with the library community, we recommend that you throw a barbecue. Here’s a good barbecue recipe from the Better Homes and Gardens New Cookbook:

Snappy Barbecue Sauce

1 cup catsup
1 cup water
¼ cup vinegar
1 tbsp. sugar
1 tbsp. Worcestershire sauce
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. celery seed
2 or 3 dashes bottled hot pepper sauce

Combine all ingredients in a saucepan. Bring the mixture to a boil; reduce heat and simmer, uncovered, for 30 minutes. Use to baste pork, beef, or poultry. Pass any remaining sauce. Makes about 1 ½ cups.

Well, the weather today is gorgeous, but we’re getting ready to enter the “dog days of summer.” Ever wonder why they’re called that? Click here! Then, check out some of these dog books to help counter the irritable mood that sometimes develops when the weather is hot and steamy. If these books can’t make you smile, you might be a lost cause!

Marley & Me

Dogs I Have Met

The Dangerous Book for Dogs

Dogs: A Natural History

Shelter Dogs

Dogs of Bedlam Farm

I was told, “you’ve got to read this book, it’s Nancy Drew meets Harry Potter and more!” That was enough to hook me, and I picked up the audio book edition of Flora Segunda: Being the Magical Mishaps of a Girl of Spirit, Her Glass-Gazing Sidekick, Two Ominous Butlers (One Blue), a House with Eleven Thousand Rooms, and a Red Dog by Ysabeau S. Wilce. Isn’t that the best title? It also accurately describes what the book is all about. On the other hand, there is so much more to this book. If you liked Harry Potter, read Flora Segunda. I bet you love it! Read it!

Librarians usually like to read books about librarians, and how could we possibly resist this title: Alcatraz Versus the Evil Librarians by Brandon Sanderson?! Come on! In the book, the main character Alcatraz Smedley learns that librarians manage knowledge in such a way that most people never suspect the existence of far more land on Earth than the usual seven continents. He has to do battle in a library against the evil librarians. Fun stuff.

Have you tried The Spiderwick Chronicles or A Series of Unfortunate Events? Both have a similar feel to Harry Potter. Perhaps you’d like one. Also, you could try a series of books by Phillip Reeve that starts with Larklight, or The Revenge of the White Spiders! or, To Saturn’s Rings and Back! : A Rousing Tale of Dauntless Pluck in the Farthest Reaches of Space. I find that title even more amusing than Alcatraz Vs. the Evil Librarians.

Here are a few other young adult or kids’ authors and series you might want to check out if you’re looking to expand your horizons beyond Harry Potter.

Patricia Wrede

Phillip Pullman’s His Dark Materials series

Artemis Fowl series by Eoin Colfer

Theodosia and the Serpent of Chaos by R.L. La Fevers

Let’s say you’ve read all the Harry Potter books, seen all the movies, even listened to the audiobooks and read all the books we recommended on Friday. What could you possibly do next? Below are some adult novels with similar themes or atmospheres to the Harry Potter series. We’ll look at what the kiddos (and the young at heart, too) should read later this week.

First, we have to recommend the Thursday Next series by Jasper Fforde. Set in a slightly surreal version of Great Britain, these books star Thursday Next, a Special Operative in literary detection. She can jump into and out of novels, arrest nursery rhyme characters, and solve the greatest crimes in literary forgery and alteration. Her father is a rogue member of the Chronoguard, a section of the government charged with keeping history on track. Her sometime partner is Spike, a vampire-hunter. Try The Eyre Affair; it’s the first novel in the series. You’ll find the books rollicking, funny and imaginative.

Next on our list are the Hitchhiker’s Guide books by Douglas Adams. Starting with The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, they travel through space with last human Arthur Dent and Ford Prefect, a roving researcher for an intergalatic travel guide. These are fun books with a wicked British sense of humor, where the absurd is as likely to happen as anything.

Our other recommendations include Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell by Susanna Clarke, the Amelia Peabody books by Elizabeth Peters, and Good Omens by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchet. Any one of these books is filled with magic, mystery and good times.