Beechview Visit

I have always imagined that Paradise will be a kind of library.
–Jorge Luis Borges

Saturday was yet another beautiful day for a puppet show. We arrived at Beechview during a Book Sale and amidst preparations for the Library Trustees’ bus tour scheduled for the day.

Amazing children’s librarian Tina set us up in the Children’s section, which takes up the whole basement floor. The space is wonderfully bright and cheery.  She even had arranged a display of books on Puppets complete with one on New Orleans, in honor of Flora’s hometown!

Very soon, everyone was happily making puppets together. There was an animal theme to the creativity that day, and Katrina capitalized on my love of puns to keep me laughing throughout the workshop.

This time,  I performed three different hand puppet stories: the Little Red Hen, the Boy Who Cried Wolf and Jack and the Beanstalk.  A highlight for me came when Jack asked the audience what else he could do besides play tricks on the townspeople. One child yelled out, “READ A BOOK!”  In response, throughout the rest of the story, Jack kept saying “If only my library were still open and I could borrow a book, then I wouldn’t have to keep crying WOLF to keep from getting bored!”

After my performance, I adjusted my stage to be kid-sized again and coached everyone for a chance to do their own puppet shows.  The children’s section remained a flurry of activity as the young troupes rushed to finish final props and characters for their stories.

Katrina and I had to leave before the library trustees arrived for their Beechview visit.  But, we were lucky enough to see the display Pretty Up Beechview constructed for them. These are letters written by children to the trustees strung up around the library.  The effect was extremely touching and, once again, cemented the importance of each and every library in my heart.  The rest of our photos are available at our flickr account here.  Thanks, Beechview!