Library Thursday started with a bit of stress. Having determined first that N. is uniquely eligible for a Seattle city library card (because his school is within city boundaries) and having also established that the Seattle library is in possession of a rare and elusive Transformers video, we decided to zip over and sign him up. This involved very careful timing, complicated by 1) me showing up late to his school because I forgot to get directions until I was driving away, 2) N having several bathroom calls at inopportune times, and 3) the librarian being both overworked and unfamiliar with the new card process. So we ended up being almost 30 minutes late to pick up the rest of the family, at a school which apparently does not think "send them up to the park to play until I get there" to be responsible parenting. On the bright side, as a proof of concept that library branch is totally doable, as long as all books are on the hold shelf and the computers are working. Ahem.

Anyway, we then went straight to our local city library. Here I exercised great restraint, only getting one new book from the lists. X got a bunch of comics, and N picked up a new Power Rangers DVD, which tragically turned out to be an old DVD with a new cover. Some children are born to sorrow, as N demonstrated today. A and P apparently are already reading a book. What that has to do with not checking out ten more I'm not sure, but we were too hungry to investigate.

After dinner I snuck out to the county library under the pretext of a PTO meeting. Alone. Without the support of my loyal children (did I mention N throwing himself between me and the new releases? It was truly heroic) I am at the mercy of the siren calls of new books. First, my hold shelf offered up:

• The Sexiest Dead Man Alive, Jane Blackwood (I liked her other book)
• Where Men Win Glory, John Krakauer (Uh, I've liked his other books)
• Don't Hurt Laurie!, Willo Davis Roberts (for Shelf Discovery Challenge)
• Poppy, by Avi, for X, because he lost his copy and refuses to organize his books sensibly
• Pink Brain, Blue Brain, Lise Eliot, as a counterweight to Why Gender Matters
• How to Teach Physics To Your Dog, by Chad Orzel (I hope it works for cats and fish too)
• Taken, Norah McClintock. Actually, I mostly reading her backlist so I remember to get the sequel to Dooley Takes the Fall
• Promise of the Flame, Sylvia Engdahl. Probably too talky, but I'll read it in homage to her wonderful YA books.
• Power Rangers, Mystic Force #1 DVD. Um, this is not for me, actually.

I then backed away from EVERYTHING. Well, I did try to find the next Shredderman book, but it was missing, and one teeny little new kids book fell into my hands, but this and the picture book from earlier were my only new acquisitions, unless you count the four new music CDs I picked with my eyes shut.

• Night Wings, Joseph Bruchac
• Rabbit's Birthday Kite (I am a bit skeptical that this deserves to be on any recommended list, but I will try to rise above the name)

Total Books from Library Elf (counting all the kid stuff that I'm legally responsible for even if I hope not to read it): 106. Stuff on my card: 91. I think that is trending down (well, my portion, anyway). I can charge the kids for book they lose without help from me.

I'll go sign up for Library Loot this week. That's a weekly event hosted in turns by Eva's A Striped Armchair and Marg's Reading Adventures (this week's host) where bloggers can share their library finds of the week. Some of them make me look restrained.