The Golden Library Card
Several years back (10-12-13 to be exact) was when our library first participated All Hallows Read, I had collaborated with my husband Bruce to make a very short comic story to give out to trick-or-treaters based on an old folktale. I wrote about it extensively at that time, and will merge that information into this post. This year is the fifth year that our library is participating in All Hallows Read, and it has become a community favorite. We now budget for a wide variety of published Halloweenish books to hand out.
If you don’t already know, then you should know that I have a strong belief that public libraries shouldn’t promote holidays – Halloween included. My Director views this issue a different way, and that’s cool. I hope that we’ve found a decent balance at our library. After all, I never want to be a complacent Punk Rock Book Jockey, and I recognize that this topic can be emotionally draining for all points-of-view.
And that’s one of the main reasons that I wanted to revisit this little comic. While I’m not comfortable with bringing holidays into the library, I am thrilled to bring libraries into my personal holiday celebrations. And Halloween is one of my favorites. Unfortunately I can’t afford to buy nice published books to hand out to trick-or-treaters at my house, but hey – I have this comic!
The main change that I made from the earlier version is that I simplified the process of putting the book together. Now you can print out the cover sheet on white cardstock and cut it out like the rest of the booklet. Print out the story pages on both sides of a sheet, cut out the pages and cover, fold everything, and then staple. Voila! Now you too can participate in All Hallows Read!
Whatta treat – amiright?!
Save the images below to create your very own copies of The Golden Library Card:
I do need to acknowledge that I used the clichéd “shushing librarian” for a part of the story; it wasn’t an easy decision to make. The thing that swayed me to use it was that it’s a great creepy sound to read aloud that could either be a ghostly librarian or the wind. Spoooopy…
And yes, it’s a silly story, but it can have an impact. A lot of times I put things like this into the world and don’t get any feedback. This time around, I had an unforgettable experience that melted my heart: a few weeks after Halloween last year a mom and her two boys got my attention at the library. They had trick-or-treated at my house, and they were excited to tell me how much they love reading the story to each other. HOORAY!!!
It’s my hope to create a new mini-comic at some point in the future. So if you have a fun all-ages idea or two, then please share it with me! No guarantees that I’ll use your idea(s), but you never know!
Spoooopyyyyy…
