The Little Local LIBRARY

Looking after a big group of toddlers wasn’t Max’s forte . . .

DURING his career in the fire service, Max Ross had faced hundreds of life-threatening situations. But nothing compared to this. Sitting in Witford Library with a ring of toddlers grinning up at him was one of the most terrifying ordeals he’d ever faced.

The kids all loved library manager Polly and her Monday morning storytime.

Today, because it was the Easter holidays, Polly couldn’t find a parking space, so volunteer Max was being thrown in at the deep end.

He shifted his bulk uncomfortably in his seat, praying Polly would rush in and save him.

At six foot three, he wasn’t built with these kiddie chairs in mind.

“Right, we’d better get started,” he said, wondering why he’d thought helping at the library was a good idea.

“Polly always checks to see if we’re sitting up straight and if we’ve brought our listening ears,” a tiny boy sang out.

Fifteen little faces nodded their agreement, and panic spiralled through him.

Max caught the eye of childminder Lucy, who helpfully waggled her ears with her hands.

“Has everybody brought their listening ears?” Max asked, feeling foolish.

Fifteen toddlers and pre-schoolers all nodded and waggled their ears.

“Excellent,” Max said, the full calamity of the situation hitting him.

He was in trouble. Max hated reading aloud. It stemmed from being a kid and everyone laughing at him as he stumbled over his words.

Fifty years later, he was still petrified. “Good, er, now I’ll begin.”

“What about our smiles?” Lucy’s charge, Ava, a cute little cherub with blonde pigtails, interrupted.

Panicking, Max looked at Lucy.

She pointed to her exaggerated smile and nodded encouragingly.

“Has everybody brought their best smiles?”

The toddlers grinned at him. Max couldn’t help but smile back despite his terror.

They all stared at him expectantly, waiting for the next obvious question.

Max hadn’t a clue what that was. The silence stretched.

During the latter part of his fire rescue career, Max had trained the new recruits. Surely, he could manage 15 toddlers.

The first couple of books were about Easter egg hunts and rabbits, and despite some stumbles, Max got to the end unscathed.

His next story was about princesses and dragons, but his audience was getting fidgety.

The next book was about monsters, and he even managed some voices. They were all gripped.

Realising monsters were winning over princesses, Max grabbed another monster book and everything settled down.

With five minutes to go, he breathed a sigh of relief. Maybe no-one would mind if he wrapped things up early.

“Polly sings songs with us at the end,” a little red-haired boy proclaimed. “Then we do colouring,” Ava chirped. Colouring. He could manage that. They kept a stack of colouring sheets behind the library desk. But singing?

“Why don’t we sing ‘The Wheels On The Bus’ to say thank you to Max for storytime,” Lucy suggested, saving him again.

Max smiled gratefully at her. She really had the loveliest eyes. He’d noticed her before, but they’d never spoken.

Now, he owed her a big thank-you and maybe even a slice of Easter cake.

After they finished singing, the toddlers crowded around him, wanting to talk.

Against all the odds, Max’s storytime had been an enormous success.

Then Max noticed Polly and library assistant Josh at the doorway.

Polly had been trying to get Max to run a story session since he’d started helping at the library. He’d been set up!

Maybe volunteering had been a mistake. Max hadn’t known what to do with his life since taking early retirement. One thing he did know was that his next job was to sort out the library car park.

Some bollards and new staff parking signs should be a start!

MORE NEXT WEEK