School's out - you would definitely think it would be quiet in our shared space in an elementary school.  The last dismissal bell rang on a Friday.  By the following Wednesday, almost every child who attends Old Mission Peninsula School had been into the library.  It's nice feeling actually - to know that reading will be a part of their summer, to see that they are excited about summer reading club and hanging out at the library,  to know that they perhaps miss us and want to make sure that we stay a part of their outside lives.  Snowbirds are back, too.  They wander in to catch up and check out the new beach reads.  It is truly amazing how many books come back with sand caught between the covers!  Of course, it is rather bittersweet to reach for a book from the shelves in the middle of a February snowstorm and have leftover summer sand rain down upon you.  Then, of course, there is the occasional book that ends up overboard and the sheepish explanation of, "I didn't mean to do it.  It just slipped.  Maybe if you dry it in a bag of rice?  No, that's for a cellphone." 

Several teachers continue to tutor students in the library during the summer.  Once in a while they get pulled in as volunteer staff:  "I have to go to a meeting for an hour.  Will you stay long enough for me to return so that this staff member or that staff member is not alone???  Migrant workers who may or may not speak some English, wander in to check out movies or simply to talk with our young, Spanish-speaking page.  Retirees come in to let us know that they will be out of town for a few days visiting offspring - they don't want us to worry when they don't show up.  Moms hang out in the library in the summer.  They often make the plea for self-service coffee and we have thought about it.  They bring their kids who sometimes need a little reminder that while we are not a quiet library we ARE a library.  The architect who designed the windows with tiered, ladder-like sills certainly did not consider how climbable they would be to a two year old,  albeit the fantastic view of the bay I am sure there is at the top!  The fruit farmer next door employs his grandchildren in the orchards during the summer.  When they have a break, they run into the library to use the computers and to cool off.  Later in the summer, they will bring us sweet tastes of the fruits of their labor - cherries, plums, peaches.  Nothing tastes quite as good as a peach picked five minutes before.  The juice runs down your chin no matter how careful you are.  Often, there is enough bounty to share with patrons.  No peaches allowed at the computers!  Last year, a Latino patron who grew tomatoes for homemade salsa had a bumper crop.  We shared tomatoes with thrilled patrons for weeks. 

We have a list  of stuff to do for the now vacationing teachers -  water this plant, feed the fish, make sure a child gets a packet of papers he left in his desk should he come in.  We ask stuff of the teachers, too.  Can we borrow your clipboards for the summer?  Do you mind if we use your room for a movie event?  You have such a nice soft rug in there and the kids like to sit on the floor.  Can we use your old fashioned overhead projector?  Yes, I know the computerized document projector in the library works better, but this presenter insisted on the overhead. 

The school custodians work with us during the summer months.  They clean, scrub and polish.  Mr. Randy, the lead custodian, pulls the grill out to make bratwurst for lunch just beyond the library garden.  On warm days, it doesn't take much to get him to take us up to the roof where there is always a breeze and the view of Grand Traverse Bay is breathtaking.  One year, the grand prize for Summer Reading Club was a tour of all the school's secret places - including the basement boiler room and the roof.  The roof was a huge hit! 

It is overwhelming at times to think of how much we are a part of so many diverse lives.  It is amazing to know that people think about us when they are not here in the library.  Several years ago, when community volunteers helped us move out of the school temporarily so that renovations could be made, a reporter asked a community leader why people would pitch in like that.  The man answered simply, "Because that is what communities do."  PCL is definitely an important part of a community.  The irony is that those of us who work here feel that the true gift of community is the one that always seems to come back to us.

Happy summer!