The Library Dragon
A Readers Theater Script
This readers theater script is adapted by Stephanie Bange from the
book The Library Dragon written by Carmen Agra Deedy, published
by Peachtree Publishers, Atlanta, Georgia, 1994.
Story © 1994, Carmen Agra Deedy. This script may be freely
copied, shared, and performed for non-commercial and
education purposes only.
STORY SUMMARY: Miss Lotta Scales is a dragon who believes her job is to
protect the school’s library books from the children; when, at last, she realizes
books are meant to be read, the dragon turns into Miss Lotty, librarian and
storyteller.
READER AGES: grades 4 - 6
LENGTH:
NARRATOR 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 – these may be combined or distributed adding roles
MISS LOTTA SCALES – works well with 2 readers reading together
ALBERT
PRINCIPAL
MISS LEMON
MOLLY
________________________________________________________________
NARRATOR 1: Sunrise Elementary School had a BIG problem. The
new librarian, Miss Lotta Scales, was a real dragon.
LOTTA SCALES: (Delivered in a grandiose voice) I was hired to
guard the library!
NARRATOR 2: She took her job seriously. The hundreds of new,
clean books replaced the old, smudged ones. These shining gems
neatly lined the shelves of her library lair.
2
LOTTA: (With a contented sigh) My books are in perfect order. No
398.2s in the 500s. Absolutely no fiction to be found among the
biographies!
NARRATOR 3: She kept a fiery eye out to make sure no one
removed any books from the shelves. Her motto was:
LOTTA: (In a firm voice) A place for everything and that’s where it
stays.
NARRATOR 4: The very thought of sticky little fingers --
NARRATORS 1 & 2: touching and clutching,
NARRATORS 3 & 4: pawing and clawing,
NARRATORS 5 & 6: smearing and tearing --
NARRATOR 4: --her precious books just made her hot under the
collar.
NARRATOR 5: She thought that the way some books spread an
unfounded fear of dragons was positively inflammatory.
LOTTA: (Insulted) Humph! Books that depict cruelty to dragons
should never have been published in the first place.
3
NARRATOR 6: She got so fired up about this, she didn’t just discard
the books she didn’t like, she incinerated them. The kids watched in
awe.
ALBERT: (Stage whisper) Well, that settles it. Where there’s smoke,
there’s fire, and that Miss Scales is a real dragon, all right.
NARRATOR 1: Not surprisingly, the kids at Sunrise Elementary
School began to dread Library Day.
NARRATOR 2: It wasn’t long before the teachers stopped sending
the children to the Library – they kept coming back singed.
NARRATOR 3: First, the principal tried to reason with Miss Scales,
but his plan backfired. Instead of cooling her down, he just fanned
the flames.
PRINCIPAL: And finally, don’t forget who does the hiring, Miss
Scales.
LOTTA: Oh really? And who does the firing?
NARRATOR 4: She gave him a glare and a flare that caught his tie
on fire. As he waved the smoke out of his face, he said:
PRINCIPAL: Now cut that out!
LOTTA: No smoking in the Library.
4
NARRATOR 5: The principal fumed. The teachers were incensed.
Worst of all, the children had missed reading and storytime for weeks
and their grades were going up in smoke.
NARRATOR 6: So, the teachers formed a delegation. After a trip to
the cafeteria kitchen to fortify themselves, they paid a visit to Miss
Scales.
NARRATOR 1: Miss Lotta Scales smoldered as she listened to
sweet Miss Lemon the kindergarten teacher.
MISS LEMON: (Sweetly) . . . and most importantly, Miss Scales,
dear, the children miss storytime.
LOTTA: Storytime, shmorie-time. Why, if I let the children touch
these books with their gooey fingers and snotty noses, this Library
wouldn’t last a week.
NARRATOR 2: Miss Lotta stared so furiously at the teachers that
they threw down their weapons and clanged out. All except sweet
Miss Lemon.
MISS LEMON: You know, Miss Scales, we all love the books as
much as you do…, but the Library belongs to the children.
LOTTA: (Laughing at her own puns) Good Knight, Miss Lemon, you
slay me. Why the idea of storytime is simply medieval.
5
NARRATOR 3: As usual, the dragon had the last word. She raised
her claws above her head and roared, which sent Miss Lemon
scurrying from the Library.
LOTTA: (Chuckling) That Miss Lemon is a real spitfire.
NARRATOR 4: Miss Lotta Scales had spewed so much smoke and
fire at sweet Miss Lemon that she had to lie down for a nap. She was
really draggin’. In fact, she was burned out.
LOTTA: Being a Library Dragon can be such a lonely job. (Heaves a
mighty sigh)
NARRATOR 5: At the same moment as Miss Scales closed her
scaly eyelids, Molly Brickmeyer accidentally wandered into the
Library.
NARRATOR 6: Molly was on a quest. She had lost her glasses and
couldn’t see a thing without them unless it was right under her nose.
She stumbled into a bookshelf and a book fell onto her lap. She
never saw the sign that read:
ALL NARRATORS: Do Not Touch the Books: For Display Only.
NARRATOR 1: It was over her head. So she held the book right
under her nose and began to read out loud.
6
MOLLY: (Reading quietly) Once upon a time there was a magic
dragon named Snuff…
NARRATOR 2: First a class of second graders, in line for the water
fountain, heard her and tiptoed in to listen.
NARRATOR 3: Then, the fourth graders, outside playing kickball,
heard a story being read and crowded around the windows.
ALBERT: Speak up, please!
MOLLY: (Reading louder) . . . and with that, Snuff wiped a hot tear
from his snout and smiled at the little girl . . .
NARRATOR 4: Word of storytime in the Library spread like wildfire at
Sunrise Elementary School. Everyone was listening.
ALL NARRATORS: Even the Library Dragon. And her ears were
burning.
NARRATOR 5: Slowly, Miss Lotta Scales rose up from behind a
bookshelf and looked at the boys and girls huddled around Molly.
NARRATOR 6: She’d never seen anything quite like it:
ALL NARRATORS: The children looked like they belonged there.
MOLLY: (Reading) I love you, Snuff.
7
LOTTA: (Growls) Give me that book, Molly Brickmeyer.
MOLLY: (In a cheerful voice) Here you go, Miss Scales.
NARRATOR 1: Miss Lotta Scales took the book and eyed it
suspiciously as it hung from her claw. First she sniffed it.
NARRATOR 2: Then she checked the spine for cracks.
NARRATOR 3: Then she checked each page for stains and
smudges.
NARRATOR 4: Finally Miss Scales looked around at the children
and cleared the smoke from her throat.
LOTTA: (Coughing loudly) Now, where were we? Why, yes . . . I
love you, Snuff . . .
NARRATOR 5: At first the children were too nervous to listen. But
when Molly Brickmeyer climbed up onto Miss Lotta Scales’ lap – and
didn’t get scorched – they relaxed.
MOLLY: (Snuggling) Miss Scales, you’re warm.
LOTTA: (Crisply) Don’t interrupt.
8
NARRATOR 6: Everyone was listening so intently that they almost
missed it: as she read, Miss Lotta Scales’ scales began to fall on the
linoleum floor with a clickety-clack, clickety-clack,…
NARRATOR 1 & 2: (Faster) clickety-clack, clickety-clack,
NARRATOR 3 & 4: (Faster still) clickety-clack, clickety-clack,
NARRATOR 5 & 6: (Fastest of all) clickety-clack, clickety-clack,
NARRATOR 1: clickety-clack – until all that was left was Miss Lotty,
librarian and storyteller, sitting on a mountain of yellow, green, and
purple scales with Molly Brickmeyer, Dragon Slayer Extraordinaire,
on her lap.
NARRATOR 2: The rest of the children warmed up to Miss Lotty right
away.
NARRATOR 3: The changes in Miss Lotty’s new kid-friendly library
were hard to miss.
NARRATOR 4: Not surprisingly, the kids at Sunrise Elementary
School began to love Library Day.
NARRATOR 5: Miss Lotty’s transformation, however, was not
complete…
9
NARRATOR 6: But then, every librarian needs to be a little bit of a
dragon – or else,
ALL NARRATORS: WHO WOULD GUARD THE BOOKS?
MOLLY: (Smiles, and whispers to the audience) And that’s the end
of our tale!