Move over, Bugs. There’s a new top bunny in town.
Delila is a 4-year-old white rabbit with a penchant for libraries featured in a new book by Trustee Crystal Megaridis.
The children’s book, Delila’s Day at the Library, chronicles Delila’s adventures during an afternoon at Indian Prairie. It’s designed to introduce kids to all the resources libraries have to offer, Megaridis said.
Megaridis said the idea first blossomed when her daughter, now 14, was 7 or 8. A librarian herself with the company Praxair, Megaridis said she found that existing kids books that explained what a library was hadn’t kept up with the way libraries have evolved.
“I decided I needed to break that stereotype and let children know how wonderful and beautiful libraries can be,” she said.
Megaridis dreamed about the idea for years before reaching out to a photographer friend to complete the one-day photo shoot with the book’s star, Delila.
In the book, which is geared toward preschoolers, Delila visits Indian Prairie for the first time. He (despite the name, Delila’s a boy) partakes in story time, watches a DVD and reads—what else—Pat the Bunny.
“It’s the first book we’ve seen that shows the depth of what libraries really are for children,” said Monica Dzierzbicki, Indian Prairie's head of youth services.
Although he comes to love the library, Delila is initially nervous about going to this new place.
“The library could be a scary place when you’re little but it’s a place to make new friends. It’s more than just books,” Megaridis said. “It’s not a sterile environment. It’s a fun environment with lots to do.”
Megaridis has been an Indian Prairie trustee for six years. This spring she was appointed board president.
It’s the first time the library’s had a board member who is also an author, said Indian Prairie Director Jamie Bukovac.
“I enjoyed the book very much,” she said. “The photos are great, it’s well written for young children and who wouldn’t love Delila!”
Though she loved the experience of writing the book, Megaridis said she expects this will be her one and only outing as an author—unless she needs to write a new edition of Delila’s story.
