Notes from an author visit.

Last week, children's librarian Ashley Pickett hosted children's author Eric Litwin at the Roswell P. Flower Memorial Library in Watertown.  This week, she tells The Frozen Librarian all about it. 

Ashley: Wow, I'm not sure where to start--it was one of the most chaotic, challenging, and most importantly FUN programs that I've ever hosted! We had a wonderful time with Eric's visit and each of the families raved over his performance. We were very tight on space (had at least 25, if not more watching outside of the door, plus 140 inside the room!). It was really hot in the room and the performance was still a blast. Thank goodness I planned to do the signing in another part of our building!

A Pete the Cat fan waits for her book to be signed by author Eric Litwin.

I had originally heard about Eric's visit to the Oswego area through you, Angela! When I started looking into it, I wasn't sure if this kind of event would be possible without an auditorium or gym to use. Our space was as full as we were allowed to make it, plus those who were outside of the door. If I were to have another big author event, I would definitely look into using or even renting a bigger space.

Angela: As you know, I excused myself from the program room when it started to get a little crowded. I did hear the strains of a harmonica at one point from out back behind the circulation desk, but can you fill me in on the rest?

Sure! He opened the performance with one of his songs that incorporated movement. I wish we had had a little more space for the kids to move around, but it did mean that families had to sit quite close together which was something he encouraged, so it worked. He moved into Pete the Cat and His Four Groovy Buttons, during which we had lots of fun movements. He did a few more of his own songs, and then performed Pete the Cat--I Love My White Shoes (with more audience wiggling and the harmonica!). We were very warm to say the least by this point.

He introduced us to his new family, the Nuts, by performing The Nuts-Bedtime at the Nut House. I was supposed to have a copy of this one as well (I turned the pages for each story up in front of the audience), but Amazon sent it to me a day late... The last part of his performance was a story that was unpublished! It was about a dog named Joe and involved lots of math for the kiddos. I looked at the clock after this one and was surprised to find 40 minutes had passed. It was a blur!

Having a big name author must have set your budget back a little. How were you able to swing it?

Our Friends group generously agreed to pay for the performance fee, and our Board of Trustees paid for the travel fees. Without them it wouldn't have been possible! A bit of advice--these fees can be tricky to sort out at first, especially when you've never booked a big author before. I didn't realize the travel fee was in addition to the performance fee. When we book performers as a group of libraries, each additional show generally lowers the price slightly. This was not the case this time around!

This was your first big name author event?

Yep it was. And I couldn't have asked for a better performance!

So, is it fair to say you'll do another event like this in the future?

I definitely would! I had just as much fun as the kids. 

(And they did; check out these great photos from the Watertown Daily Times!)

One last question: What advice would you give to other librarians contemplating an author visit? 

My advice to any librarian contemplating an author visit has two parts: 1) ask any question you may have, no matter how small you may think it is. Eric's team provided a great support system for me and patiently answered everything I asked. They had some specific tech and signing requirements, along with a few other things that I was unsure about, so I felt like I was constantly asking questions. They assured me multiple times that I was on the right track.

And 2) just give it a try! I really didn't think we would be able to swing both the cost and the space, but the program ended up being successful beyond my wildest dreams. CAPC even generously donated a Pete the Cat costume for us to use. And when we couldn't find someone to wear it, one of their teachers stepped up and graciously withstood the heat to make our night complete. Please don't let things that seem like huge roadblocks stand in your way--you might be pleasantly surprised in the end!

Ashley Pickett has been the children's librarian at Flower Memorial since 2011. She received her Masters in Library and Information Science from Syracuse University.  Her favorite foods are French fries and strawberries (but not together, of course), and she loves the snow. One of her favorite books to share with children is Cat Secrets by Jef Czekaj.