One Sixteenth

I'm not sure which branch of the CPL you visited, but if it wasn't the Harold Washington Library Center (HWLC), I'd like to recommend that you vist with all four children in tow. The HWLC Thomas Hughes Children's Library (second floor of the HWLC) is a library within a library (including a separate entrance, special displays, and terrific programming), and if the staff can handle the school crowds and special events (they do, with aplomb), then they can surely handle a mom and her four busy sons.

The CPL's online catlogue is a bear, but it's better than searching the shelves for books that aren't there (which happens --- with alarming frequency these last few years; one has to wonder who is teaching the pages how to shelve). We find the online system particularly useful for tracking down hard-to-find films.

Regarding the Library of Congress system of filing... nothing but regular use will solve your feelings of unfamiliarity. The suburban libraries at which I worked as a teen were small centers that used Dewey Decimal. But LOC is the standard in academic and research libraries, so by the end of my first semester undergrad, I was completely won over to LOC (which is more intuitive, anyway).

Let's see. Oh, yes. You mentioned interlibrary loan. CPL will obtain books for you via ILL, although depending on the branch and the librarian's mood, you may be discouraged. On the other hand, as a CPL card holder, you have access to all of the volumes in all of the branches --- main, regional, and neighborhood. You can have a title that's currently shelved at Jefferson Park (a neighborhood branch) sent to the branch or center that is most convenient for you.

Unrelated but... you mentioned heading to the Shedd. The most recent issue of WaterShedd included "A Young Family's Guide to Shedd." It may or may not interest you. If you will still be in town, Sea Star Quest arrives at the Shedd on June 17, but members-only preview days are scheduled for June 2, 4, 5, and 6.

Good night, Steph.

Actually, it was the Thomas Hughes library to which we went. The problems were half mine and half theirs. Really, it's just not possible to have my thee year old and my two year old in the library and do *anything*. Hmmm, let me amend that. The three year old is manageable. The two year old is a lost cause. If I'm going to go to the library, I don't want to spend all my time chasing my toddler down aisles ;-)

However, I was taken aback by the attitude of one worker in particular. She kept telling us we were being loud. Well ... I work very hard to keep my kids quiet in a library, and they certainly were not being above what you must expect from the *children's area* of the library; there were other children being louder and for longer periods of time (if my kid fusses, I quiet him as quickly as possible, obviously).

Then over by the dollhouse there is a small bench; it is the perfect height for a small child to climb up on and be able to get a good view of the house's interior. It's not at all a dangerous height or size and it was very inviting to my youngest. He stood on it, very nicely, and got involved in looking at the house. Finally, something to hold his attention! But no, this lady came over and instructed me to take him down, as it was dangerous. (I was standing next to the child for the entire time, btw.)

Er ... frankly, if it wasn't for standing on, I don't know what it was for. Perhaps kids could sit on the bench and face away from the dollhouse, because you couldn't really sit on it and look *at* the dollhouse ...

Since the place was quite crowded, and I was working very hard to keep them occupied and quiet *and* look for books in an unfamiliar system (which were more likely not on the shelves than on, you're right about that) ... it just left me frustrated and unhappy with the experience.

I'll just arrange to go on weekends with my older boys. Or I might venture into an age-appropriate story hour.

Thanks for the tips on using the library. I take it I call the librarian to request a book from another branch? I am spoiled by the Ft. Worth system, which lets you do everything online. I'll live, though ;-)

I do have that copy of WaterShedd, and think we'll be in town for the opening of the Sea Star Quest. I hope so! I was ... not prepared for how crowded it was today. Will it be like that from here on out, through the summer? Yikes!

Thanks for visiting, and for your comments!

Wow! My kids stand on the wooden bench by the dollhouse... every visit. Either the librarian you described isn't scheduled during our visits (or she runs, screaming, from the premises when she sees me walk in) or she was just being rude. That library is usually teeming with rambunctious school groups this time of year, so I am embarrassed that you and your boys were singled out for "making noise." Perhaps the staff person with whom you interacted felt overwhelmed, and it was easier for her to get you --- a parent --- to listen? I don't know. As foolish as this sounds, I'm sorry. I hope you give them another try.

About the books you need... if you find the title through the online catalogue (or at the catalogue terminals when you and your older boys return to HWC), print out the info (including the call number if it's a non-fiction title), and ask the librarian to put it on hold for you. She'll ask for your library card. Later, from home, you can check the status of your holds by choosing "virtual library services" from the CPL website. Our holds on books that CPL owns at other locations are usually in within five days. Obviously, if you want a popular title or bestseller, you'll wait longer. The catalogue entry for the book will tell you where it's available. You may even feel adventurous and want to drive to get it yourself. You know what? Strike that. Reverse. The last time I suggested that to a visitor, he got lost on the "Deep South Side." I'm not certain he has yet forgiven me.

The Shedd is always busy. Our favorite times are first thing in the morning and members-only events. Quiet. Wide open. Lots of one-on-one interactions with staff and docents. Even on the weekends, if we arrive just before it opens, we have an hour or so that is slow-paced, reasonable. As the school year winds down, you'll find that mornings at the "big three" (MSI, Field, Shedd) are difficult to enjoy. Bus load after bus load after bus load of excited kids and overworked teachers and clueless chaperones streaming into the museums. Hee, hee. On the flip side, with busy boys, you might appreciate being the quietest ones in the joint.

Seriously, if you can arrive just before opening, I think you'll have a terrific 60 - 90 minutes to yourselves. Otherwise, yes... it's always busy. Always. And much as we love the Shedd, I can't imagine standing on one of thsose lines that wend out into museum campus. What? To see fish?

Hey, depending on the ages of your older boys (and their tolerance for gross-out), they may like the offbeat International Museum of Surgical Science. It's on Clark. Here's their website:

http://www.imss.org/html/frames.html

Did your family purchase a membership at MSI, too? If so, your admission to IMSS should be free. It's creepy fun. Surgical tools. Lurid paintings of medical procedures. Wax gall stones. Skeletons. Poke around the site to see if you and the older ones will get a kick out of it. Not for the faint-hearted (or the littles) but interesting.

Sorry for another long message.