So today I got stumped, and it was frustrating. A mom and her two daughters came in, and while they were there she thought of a book they had read a couple of years earlier that her daughters had recently mentioned and wanted to read again, but she didn't know the author or title. She said it was about a little girl who lived in a village where they only got sunlight one day a year. She thinks it was in the Himalayas and was a picture book. The little girl's mother was sick, and they needed to figure out how they could get her mom out of the village and to somewhere that she could be in the sunlight.
I tried everything I could think of, determined to find it. I searched our catalog for juvenile books with all the keywords I could think of. I tried Google, figuring if I searched the description, surely I could find a title, but nothing. Thinking maybe it wasn't in the Himalayas after all, I tried searching for a town or village than gets very little sunlight, but all I found were towns and villages in the far north that are in the dark for up to six months of the year, but nothing about any area that only gets sun for 1 day each year. I asked the patron and her girls if they could remember any other details about the book, like the child's name, or part of the title or author's name, but they couldn't. I kept trying to think of other keywords to search for, and asked an online group of children's librarians, but still no luck. I think it was likely a folk tale, but not sure. Eventually the patron left, and I apologized for not being able to figure it out, but they didn't mind and thanked me for trying so hard. I asked the librarians when they came back from lunch, and they had no idea either. It still bugs me I couldn't find it; I pride myself on being able to figure these things out.
But, despite their having stumped me, this family was the highlight of my day. The children's department is doing a "wall of gratitude" bulletin board, giving each patron a piece of paper to write and/or draw something they are thankful for, and these two girls wanted to participate. And guess what they were thankful for? The Library! And I promise I didn't prompt them at all ;) They were so sweet, and even let me take their picture. It's so nice to see people who truly appreciate all the library has to offer, and take time to tell you.
In addition, we had a school group of 6th graders visit with an assignment requiring them to check out a book that was historical fiction. Since one of the librarians had already pulled a selection of books for them to look at, it was a breeze. They came in, and it was super busy for about 20 minutes as I helped them all check-out with a flurry of activity, then they quickly left, and all was quiet again. Then I had the usual routine tasks of straightening up, filling displays, pulling and processing holds and transfers, and I sorted 3 carts of books and started shelving one since one of our pages just quit (due to medical issues).
It was overall a good day, but I am still determined to figure out what that darn book was....
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