The library has always been the go-to spot for many kids during their off periods. Whether it is to get some homework done, take a nap, read a book, or simply because there is nowhere else to go, the library is where many kids end up sometime during the week. Like many public libraries, the school “hotspot” has rules that kids try to break every day, creating a constant struggle between rebellious students and librarians. On any given day, one can view students relentlessly try to sneak in their lunch or an afternoon snack, thinking they can pull of the innocuous misdemeanor without getting caught.
And usually, they do. Perhaps the librarians even get a hoot of laughter when they see how much effort it takes us to bring in a little morsel to snack on when we attempt to finish a last minute homework assignment or study for a test the next period. After interviewing some librarians, we have come to a conclusion that they have usual suspects that come into the library to cause disruptions. There may even be some students who enter the library only with the goal of causing a ruckus and ultimately getting kicked out. If you thought you were on the librarians’ bad side for bringing in a bag of pretzels, fear not. You don’t compare to the kid that once brought a whole breakfast buffet, complete with waffles, eggs, bagels, bacon, and pancakes, into the library and just sat down eating. Although we didn’t attempt any stunts nearly comparable to our predecessors, we did decide to go on a little mission of our own.
We noticed that many of the students like to take naps in the cubicles during their off periods. Of course no nap is complete without a pillow, so we decided to bring in our pillow pets into the library. The outcome: success. For those of you who think you might like to try this out, I would love to tell you about how we dressed in all black and scaled the walls with our pillow pet in tow. But this was not the case. Instead, one of us walked straight into the library carrying a large plastic bag with a pillow pet inside of it, in plain sight. We walked nonchalantly towards the first open cubicle. We sat down, took out the pillow and took a nice, long, nap.
We noticed that the librarians never said a word, although some of the kids who wanted to do some work did not seem too happy about a kid taking a nap. When the bell rang, we packed up the pillow and left the library without any trouble.
So, next time you plan on catching up on those “Zzzz,” it seems that bringing in a nice comfy pillow is acceptable in the library.