(From the ALSC blog, by Emily Bayci)

“One of the best parts (maybe even the best part) of being a children’s librarian is getting to dress up and look ridiculous all of the time. No questions asked. My favorite way to express this? Funky hats.

It all started innocently enough. There were a few hats hanging around at my graduate school and I wore them while working at the help desk. People thought it  was fun and when I found a cool hat
at a store I would end up buying one.

This escalated into a full on obsession. My friend told me how much money you could save by buying a hat for a costume and working your way down.

Think Cat in the Hat: you have the hat, draw on some whiskers and TA DA! Want to turn into a fire-breathing dragon? Get a dragon hat at your local costume shop and then add a green shirt and dark pants. You are now ready to guard the princess.

I started finding funky hats everywhere I looked: the grocery store, costume shops, even foreign countries. It turned into a full-fledged collection- where I needed to fill all the holes.

I wear funky hats on the reference desk, in story times and in special programs.

It is a great way to build literacy skills with the children, by discussing colors, shapes and animals. And it’s fun!

During summer reading school visits, I had students vote on what hat they liked better. I have even done story times completely based on hats (hats off to Jon Klassen for creating an entire picture book trilogy of hat books). Other great story time titles are Hooray for Hat by Brian Won and my new favorite A Good Day For Hat by T. Nat Fuller.

Any ideas for other cool ways I can show off my hats? Do you have a special niche as a children’s librarian? ! Let me know in the comments.”

(Read the entire article here, and check out her great photos!)