Children's Library, 5/17-5/21

For my service project, I volunteered at a children’s library in Westchester, NY. One task that I helped with was reading to children that were aged from eight weeks to eight years old everyday in the organized reading programs. Mother Goose time was a reading program for the babies that were eight weeks old where we sang and used puppets. Story Craft was another program, for the older children, where I read more difficult books to them and helped them play with puzzles and do arts and crafts offered by the library. I loved talking to them and learning about their favorite color, animal, or activity. I thought more about how I view the world and myself; as compared to the way the young children view their lives. My dreams are so different to theirs because my dreams are more difficult to achieve and require more skills, while their dreams are to get a new puppy or to learn how to ride a bicycle.

I also made fliers and brochures for the upcoming events at the library. The events were created to help get the children involved in the library. There will be reading programs over the summer, reading competitions, and reading games. I loved making the fliers because I feel like the children will be eager to attend the programs and will become more involved with their community library. I also enjoyed being creative and colorful to make the programs appealing to the children. Several children walked up to the fliers on display and asked their parents if they could attend the reading program where teens read to the children over the summer. It felt great to have had a part in making that program available to the children.

In addition, I learned how to look up books in the database for the children. One little boy wanted to read every penguin book in the library, so I helped him find each one. He was so happy that he gave me a big hug and said he would come back tomorrow. That made me feel like I made a difference. I learned that I have the confidence and people working skills that are required to perform tasks at the library without needing further assistance. It is important to be involved in the community because without volunteers, there would be little or no programs running in the library and the shelves would be in disarray. Then, the public would not want to go and use the facility.

Overall, I loved helping the children become comfortable with their library so that they will love to go there and read, relax, and learn. It was a really rewarding experience and I would be happy to go back and help again!

--Natalia