Extra,Extra! (click for page two)
Williamsport Storymobile Gets a Face-lift
“In honor of the 50th anniversary [of the local Friends of the Library group], the board of the Friends presented the library with up to $2,500 to update the outside of the Storymobile. The Storymobile is a library-sponsored van that brings storytime and books on loan to area nursery schools and day care centers.
”In thanking the Friends for the new look for the vehicle, Pam Fink, the Storymobile librarian and driver, shared the reaction of recent visiting author-illustrator Will Hillenbrand, who was so excited to see and hear about a traveling children's library and storytime vehicle that he offered to draw a new character to brighten the van's sides and back door. He submitted drawings of a big brown bear reading a big book. When the job is complete, Hillenbrand asked if he could come back sometime in April, drive the van for a day and tell stories at each stop."
[Note: I did return in the spring to drive the Storymobile. Many thanks to my friends at the James V. Brown Library, especially Pam Fink and Nina Edgerton and, of course, the friends of the Friends.] *for entire article, see: Friends Hold Annual Volunteer Recognition, November 21, 2010, Williamsport Sun-Gazette, PA.
Big Bear is a Clean Sweep
The Wood County Public Library in Bowling Green, Ohio selected Sleep, Big Bear, Sleep as their CHOOSE TO READ OHIO book. The outreach librarian visited 12 local preschools and featured the book in her storytimes. Preschoolers created artwork inspired by the book.
The project culminated with my visit. The presentations included an in-service with the BGSU Child Development Center staff, an assembly for K-3rd graders and an event open to the community.
(Other libraries participating in CHOOSE TO READ OHIO featuring Sleep, Big Bear, Sleep include Westerville Public Library and Sandusky Library.)
Pennsylvania’s York Co. Libraries
Know How to Set a GOAL
Beginning Saturday, November 12, 2011 and continuing on the second Saturday of November for the next two years, I will be celebrating reading with the young readers of York County.
Each spring through 2014, I’ll return to do an all-day visit with one selected school. This year, I will be meeting with first-graders and will focus on my book, Down by the Station. This collaborative program involving the public library branches and schools centers upon literacy, personal reading goals and the services that the public libraries offer to students and their families.
