The December 1st (5pm EST) deadline to enter our contest is approaching. Librarians, take some time this long holiday weekend to write your story about “What I Wish Everyone Knew About Librarians.”

If you win, you’ll get that extra cash you may need just in time for holiday shopping!

How cool is this? My husband found this great article about haunted libraries. Check out this Britannica Blog. You can click on a region and read about libraries that are said to be haunted in your area.

I can just imagine what it would be like spend time in a library and be haunted by a ghost from centuries ago. I picture books flying off shelves, doors locking and strange noises coming from antique volumes of books. And of course this would have to all take place on Halloween night. Yikes!

There is just a month and a day left before the Writing Contest deadline! Any and every public or private, school or college, medical or corporate librarian with legal US residency may enter the contest.

YOU HAVE NOTHING TO LOSE! The entries that are coming in are incredibly interesting and excellent. And it’s no surprise – after all they are written by Librarians! So take a few minutes and tell us what we need to know about your life as a librarian! We want to hear all about it!

The entire Badilly family performed at the JFK Library in Hialeah, FL today for the 2008 Hialeah Literacy Fair. People in cars on W 49th Street could see this family of millipedes as they drove by. We performed songs from the book and played the US geography game, sold some books and met a lot of interesting people. Check out the photos:

Entries for our librarian writing contest are coming in, and we cold not be happier about it! I’ve had a chance to peak at several stories, and I have to tell you that I am impressed. By the time the contest is over, I think America will finally be educated about how libraries work, what librarians do, the sense of humor librarians have and how much they do for their communities.

If you are a librarian, or know a librarian, please enter our contest. You’ve got nothing to lose, and America has everything to gain by reading your insightful stories. Click here for contest rules.

The entire Badilly family of millipedes will be performing in costume at the Hialeah Literacy Fair on sept 7 from 11:30-12:30. The address is 190 West 49th street, Hialeah, FL. Please join us! This will be a great event for lovers of books everywhere!

Please check out our South Florida school/library program. We want to spread the joy of reading to kids in our community and everywhere else we can!

We just announced our Writing Contest for Librarians a few weeks ago, and already entries have been coming in. And I have to say they are looking good! So if you have not entered, please start writing your most interesting, funniest, most touching, most ironic, most endearing or most whatever you wish story describing “What I Wish Everyone Knew About Librarians.” The grand prize winner will receive $500, 2nd place winner will receive $100 and 3rd place winner will receive $50 just in time for holiday shopping! Click here for the full entry rules.

We are just a few weeks away from announcing our 3 winners from our Kids Travel Writing Contest. The deadline to enter is September 1st, so tell all the kids you know to get writing. Each winner will receive a check for $25 and an autographed copy of The Travel Adventures of Lilly P Badilly: Costa RIca. Click here for the full entry rules.

Have you ever forgotten to return a library book? For a really long time? And you’ve kinda, sorta ignored the late notices from the library? Beware. Unreturned library books and late fees are so common, that many libraries now use the services of collection agencies. That means that your late fees can actually be reported to a credit bureau adversely affecting your credit score. Even if you return the book, but don’t pay the fines, you can find yourself in trouble for a relatively small amount of money.

This “punishment” may sound a bit far fetched, but library books are actually loans. Libraries all over the US are working on very limited budgets these days. And they lose a large volume of books to borrowers who never return the goods. Plus, when you are late returning books, there is likely a disappointed reader out there missing out on reading that book.

So next time you borrow a book, mark the due date on your calendar at home and make a real effort to return it on time. The next time you are checking out a book, ask if there are any outstanding fines on your account, and pay them. You’ll feel good about yourself, and you’ll be doing the right thing.

With all this contact I’ve been having with librarians lately, I’ve been thinking about the volume of work they must do to provide us with the great privilege of a variety of reading materials. The future of books has also crossed my mind. With all this talk about the internet and ebooks and speculation about physical libraries becoming obsolete, I am horrified. NOTHING, ABSOLUTELY NOTHING can replace the joy of holding a book in your hands and sitting in a comfy chair and reading. And what about the pleasure of browsing the shelves and computers in a library to discover reading and listening treasures you would otherwise never discover?

I don’t know about you, but the thought of sitting in front of my Apple computer and reading the 1200 or so pages of Atlas Shrugged is not that appealing. And what about children’s books? Can you imagine not being able to cuddle up with your favorite little person and flip the pages a book while enjoying the illustrations?

So the next time you hear about the possibility of libraries becoming extinct, please challenge the source profusely. I refuse to give up my books, and I also cannot image life without librarians telling us about a great read and encouraging us to use parts of the brain that would otherwise lay dormant.