money, money, money, money

i have just been approved for a summer reading mini-grant! yay! that means i get extra money to spend on crafty goodness as i see fit. what will be my first order of business? googley eyes! i am going to spend $180 on googley eyes! just kidding. but there shall be googley eyes. most def.

every summer new york state comes up with a theme for summer reading. i personally always hate the theme. here are some sample themes of yesteryear:

new york is read white and blue (post 9/11 theme)

get a clue @ your library

you never know @ your library

tune in @ your library (we heart the @ sign!)

i don't want to hate the theme. sometimes they're okay. but mostly i think i hate the theme because it is one of those things where only librarians understand it. for instance, the kids never seem to understand that the entire summer is revolving around a theme. they are oblivious to the theme. and us librarians work our butts off trying to relate everything to this one theme. and for what? i have found i've had more success ignoring the theme completely, and just trying to have really cool activities. but this year the theme is catch the reading bug, and although i do not typically like bugs i do have a fun idea for a theme-related program.

i am going to use some of my mini-grant money to buy a butterfly growing kit. yay! we will have caterpillars shipped to the library and the kids will feed them and try not to kill them and then watch as the caterpillars make coccoons and then the butterflies will hatch (do butterflies hatch?) and we will release said butterflies into the hood where they will instantly be killed by pollution. yesssssss! i am so excited. i think the kids will love it.