NE Nodaway opening library for readers
TOM PINNEY/DAILY FORUM
Stacey Rucker reads with her son, Wesley, during the Northeast Nodaway Summer Reading program at the school library. The first day of the program saw around 10 families come in and take advantage of the open library.
While the Maryville Public Library is hosting a comprehensive reading program during the summer, sometimes it’s hard for people in the smaller Nodaway County communities to get to Maryville.
In Ravenwood, they have a solution to that problem.
Kristin Sybert, the new librarian at Northeast Nodaway School, is opening the library four times this summer for the Northeast Nodaway Summer Reading program.
The first day of the program was Monday. The other three will be on Tuesdays approximately every three weeks.
Sybert is taking the program over for Mary Boswell, who stepped away from the job.
“Mary did it for the past six years, and this is my first year doing the program,” Sybert said. “I have some pretty big shoes to fill.
“We’ve been successful in the past in giving kids a jump start on their first quarter reading goals and keeping them interested in reading. In turn, this keeps their test scores up and keeps them at grade level or above in reading.”
There’s no cost associated with joining the program, and Sybert said it gives other students an opportunity at providing some community service.
“There are some high school students watching kids in the community, and they can bring their kids into the library for a good educational activity,” Sybert said. “We also have our A+ students come in for tutoring hours, activities, and reading with the kids, and they earn community service hours for doing so.
“It gets people away from the slower times of summer, which can get kind of boring. This provides a new opportunity to break those doldrums.”
Anyone from pre-kindergarten through sixth grade in the Ravenwood and Parnell areas is welcome to come into the library during the Summer Reading days, but only students at Northeast Nodaway can check out books. Those coming in must also be supervised.
The Summer Reading program continues June 27, July 11, and August 8, all Tuesdays. On these days, the library will be open from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m., and various activities will be available for those who come in.
TOM PINNEY/DAILY FORUM
Brittany Burns leads a few community children in a coloring activity in the Northeast Nodaway Library for the Summer Reading Program. Burns is a junior at Northeast Nodaway and an A+ student, one of four such students to come in and volunteer their time to the program.