A few Fridays ago

the girls and I had a sleepover at the library....with about 200 other people. We took part in the No television for a Week pledge and the reward was "sleeping" at the Salem Public Library.

There was excitement in the air as we staked out our spot! We nabbed the Science Fiction large print section.
The theme was "Animal Antics" and the wonderful library staff had lots of themed activities. The girls got to make some animal origami......

Get their faces painted......and of course Rachel would choose a dog! It's her "go-to" animal!

We ran into several friends who also took the pledge which was a lot of fun! Here Anna and Sophia model their balloon hats.

They had SO much fun sliding down the banister until a grumpy librarian spoiled it.

Here we are in the morning......we made it. The girls wanted to wander the library after dark with their friends, but librarians armed with flashlights kept sending the nomads back to bed. Even after the girls went to bed, they wanted to talk. Finally I broke down and pulled out the bribery card (which I try not to play very often so it retains it's effectiveness) and promised the girls $5 to spend at Claire's if they'd be quiet and go to sleep. Instant silence......ah!

Anna and Rachel are already talking about doing it again next year. I wish we'd participated in years past, but I always missed the signups. Thank goodness for a reminder ~ an article in the newspaper this year highlighting the event.

I'll close with saying that I love our library! I've seen many different libraries in lots of places where I've lived and I've never seen a better and more actively involved library than the Salem Public Library. My kids have grown up there ~ I remember a 2 year old Katie who didn't want to leave the Discovery room when it was decorated like a mini shopping area and threw a very large and loud tantrum from the door of the Discovery room, down the stairs, out the main doors and to the parking lot. I can actually laugh about that now. Tyler, who used to hunt down all the Arthur books he could find. Anna who jabbered for hours on the play payphones and Rachel who loved building giant towers at the Lego table.

Yes....the Salem Public Library is pretty amazing! You can check out the Childrens Department with one click right here.