Stuffed Animal Sleepover at Andersen Library

If you happened through Andersen Library this past Friday, Saturday, or Monday, you may have noticed children and librarians with stuffed animals in tow. You were witnessing the Stuffed Animal Sleepover.

Parents and grandparents helped the stuffed animals’ kid-friends create name tags for their animals, after which the children joined in a couple of songs and a story time.

Before heading home, the children tucked in their stuffed animals for an afternoon nap. That ensured plenty of energy for their nighttime adventures. Once the stuffed animals were roused, there was more than a bit of silliness to go around. Although the monkeys rather unsuccessfully tried to teach the other animals to climb, the zebra and okapi were quite impressed by their tutors’ daring do. Madeline was up to her usual antics, teaching her new friends all about photocopy machines, a device for which the stuffed critters heretofore had no imaginable use. All of the nighttime antics were caught on camera and printed in booklets for the children to pick up the following day along with their stuffed animals.   

I think it safe to say that the library staff was pretty tuckered out after chasing various stuffed critters around the stacks throughout the night – but not so much that they’re not looking forward to this event next year!

Trisha used the bulletin board display to talk about places in our town – our nod to the Big Read.

Let me shift to my “academic librarian” writer’s voice for a moment. Given the positive response from the children, their parents and grandparents, the student and staff volunteers, we are looking forward to repeating this event next year. What we hope to do differently is to involve more of our UW-Whitewater students in organizing and carrying out various aspects of the event. If your student group has a passion for working with children, the willingness to share some energy, and a desire to put expertise into practice, please contact Diana Shull or the education librarian, Ellen Latorraca. We’re happy to share the fun!