The 12th LAPL branch library is a lovely library in the Hancock Park area called John C. Fremont. It is near the La Brea Tar Pits, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, and the Original Farmers Market. It’s also near Larchmont Village and Pink’s Hot Dogs. My daughter Riley loved the children’s section, full of interactive play toys (besides great books).
We played in the puppet theater and the firetruck for a while, and carried dolls around. I know why my friend Katrina comes here with her daughter Mika for Baby and Toddler Storytime.
We met a friendly lady who was reading in the children’s section, and some very nice librarians too!
One of the librarians asked if we had joined the Summer Reading Challenge and she was happy to learn that we had! Now, if only I could remember to log minutes every day. . . The John C. Fremont Branch offers lots of programs, including a monthly French conversation club and an upcoming discussion on the poetry of Emily Dickinson on Saturday, July 15th, 2017.
This library was built in 1927. And I found out from a recent blog comment from Robyn of LAPL, that the branches are numbered by how they entered into the system! As small cites joined the City of Los Angeles, their library buildings also became incorporated (which explains why it seems so random). I’ve been wondering how the branches got their numbers – so thank you Robyn for responding to my query!
We got some great books. Two board books: the first being Plant A Kiss by Amy Krouse Rosenthal and illustrated by Peter H. Reynolds, which was very sweet, and the second being It Looked Like Spilt Milk by Charles G Shaw, also a good one about things that appear to be different things (like milk spills that look like trees).
Now, it has come to my attention that this is the first time I may have repeated a book (I do keep a saved list on the LAPL website with my library account– but I do not always remember to add every book!) I cannot remember if we had Spilt Milk at home, or if I had it at work, or if we had already checked it out before at the library (I’m getting old, sorry). I’m thinking of keeping a spreadsheet of all the books we have checked out . . . which I can do with free access to tutorials like Excel from Lynda.com thanks to my library card! But it is ok to repeat books, I reread books all the time. You can never read a book too many times.
We got a few books about animals. Animalia by Graeme Base, which is a beautifully illustrated alphabetical play on words and a book I remember from my youth (I had a 1989 Animalia wall calendar) . . .
and Urban Animals by Isabel Hill, which is a fun architectural book about animals on buildings. It made me look twice at buildings after we read it.
We brought home Chicky Chicky Chook Chook by Cathy MacLennan, a great read-aloud book (and one fellow speech pathologists I know own) . . .
and the Caldecott Medal winner, the wordless picture book Flotsam by David Wiesner, which shows things washed ashore at the beach (including a camera with interesting pictures).
The last book we got — a book about siblings, The New Small Person by Lauren Child was very sweet.
I’m always so pleased with the books we bring home. I hope I help inspire someone else to read to a child. Hey, you can do just that if you volunteer at your local public library branch.
Happy Park and Recreation Month! After you visit the library, go outside!