Behind the scenes at downtown Central Library

We got a behind-the-scenes look at Central Library in downtown Minneapolis. I may have been more excited than the kiddos!

I've always loved libraries and used to volunteer at my hometown library, shelving books and doing whatever the librarian needed. So I was pretty stoked to introduce my kids to what the library looks like behind the shelves.

We headed upstairs to reach the room where they repair books. Once there we saw a gigantic paper cutter, a couple presses and other cool tools.

If your little one rips a book, don't tape it up yourself. Instead, point it out to your librarian so that this special tape gets used to fix it up.

Yes! This is a card catalog!! A huge row of card catalogs!

The Girl was pretty excited to find this framed print of LENTIL on the wall in one of the employee-only rooms.

 We also got to peer into The Stacks - rows upon rows of bookshelves that come in together and store thousands of books. They used to open with a hand crank, but are now mechanized.

 And then, a scavenger hunt! We love these in the Hennepin County libraries.

 Before our tour, there was a special storytime for our Homeschool group ranging in age from babes in arms to kindergarten.