After over 9 years of attending library story time every Monday morning (unless we were out of town, of course), our weekly routine is changing.  As we prepared to leave for story time last week, my youngest son declared, “Mama, I think I’ve outgrown story time.  I’d rather read our own books.”  It’s a big shift.

I started bringing my oldest son to story time when he was a tiny infant.  It’s been an anchor of our weeks ever since.  Our weekly Monday-morning attendance has provided many years of fun and inspiration.

Our favorite children’s librarian, who reads during the Monday-morning story time, continually inspired us with her tremendous storytelling skills.  In addition, she chooses wonderful books to share.  She introduced us to many of our favorite picture books over the years by reading them at story time.

Not only that, over the years we’ve become friends.  She’s given me a hug and helped me find appropriate books to share with my boys during times of loss.  She listened attentively to my oldest son’s flood-survival story over and over and over again as he processed the huge natural disaster that swept through our house and surrounding area.  She’s heard my older son talk about the hardships of being a big brother.  She’s provided an empathetic ear when I’m having a tough parenting day.  Of course, she’s helped us to find a myriad of books suited to my boys’ current interests and curiosities.  Through it all, she’s listened and shared and loved, and it’s been tremendous.

If you ask my boys about their favorite place in town, they consistently remark that it’s the library.  And so much of that is because of the amazing librarians who staff the place.

Now, I’ve known that this transition would come at some point.  First, there’s the obvious fact that my boys continue to grow and develop.  Along with this, for the last couple of years my 9-year-old has skipped listening to the story time books and used the time to scout out his own reading material, or to talk with one of the other amazing librarians on staff.

It’s true that there are positives and negatives with every phase of growth and development.  There is sadness in saying goodbye to a loved routine.  There is also joy in looking at what’s next.

So, instead of attending story time on Monday morning last week, we went to the library in the early afternoon.  One benefit we discovered is this: between lunchtime and the time school gets out for the day, the children’s section is fairly empty.  The boys and I took a stack of books, lounged on the couches, and read them aloud without disturbing or being disturbed by anybody else.  And our favorite librarian is still there, ready and willing to help or to talk or to share or to smile.

As my boys continue to grow, I know there will be many more such transitions and shifts.  I’m excited to see how our lives, including our library time, continue to grow and develop.