I was there this morning, on time. The head administrator for the Palmer Fire Station assisted me in unloading the books (which were in bins) and bringing them into the building. We set them on a table and then moved them into the fire station garage. I set out the books and the banner.
Then they came, parents and kids and parents and kids, through the door adjacent to the garage bay door. I began talking with parents and passing out bookmarks. Some of the kids began selecting books. One little boy took a board book called On the Farm – it had a side pocket with little plastic animals.
The parents had brought blankets for themselves and their kids to sit on. By the time Cindy, the woman in charge of the reading, began her song and dance, there were at least 75 kids and parents in attendance. Cindy read two books; one was about fire fighters. Cindy, who was an elementary school teacher, then had the kids follow her lead in doing some body motion work and singing a song about smoke detectors. She then introduced Sparky, the fire department mascot.
Cindy did what she had to do in 25 minutes. I was impressed. This, I thought, is what I’d like to be doing with kids. I saw it was possible to read, use movement, and in the process, keep kids engaged. And, given the numbers, I saw that Palmer has a rapt audience for this kind of thing.
After, the parents and kids checked out the books. I walked around and talked with parents and passed out bookmarks.
After, Rachel said that there will soon be a Palmer Public Library Community Meeting and that she’ll let me know when this is. I suspect that the role of the Bright Lights Book Project is going to be on site during events and passing out books. This is fine with me.
Everyone left, and the fire station employees assisted me in loading the books up, back into my car.
I headed for the recycling center where Pete and Bill were finishing up salvaging books. Our Title Wave haul saved the day – there were not many books at VCRS for us to choose from. Pete and I agreed, these books were a cut above the rest, so we’ll get more.
I spent the rest of the afternoon sorting and categorizing the books that Pete dropped off from the recycling center, then went home.
Both Pete and I then went to a Backcountry Horsemen of Alaska meeting. I am going to have to resume pushing on horse related doors.
I keep hoping to make community-related inroads for the Bright Lights Book Project. I think today that that door swung open a tad. Last Thursday, the Palmer Public Library roof collapsed. There was a benefit concert on Sunday, which I attended. There I met Rachel House, who heads up the Friends of the Palmer Library. She then invited me to come today to the Fire Station, where the library was holding its Saturday morning read to the kids program. I was to bring books.
I was there this morning, on time. The head administrator for the Palmer Fire Station assisted me in unloading the books (which were in bins) and bringing them into the building. We set them on a table and then moved them into the fire station garage. I set out the books and the banner.
Then they came, parents and kids and parents and kids, through the door adjacent to the garage bay door. I began talking with parents and passing out bookmarks. Some of the kids began selecting books. One little boy took a board book called On the Farm – it had a side pocket with little plastic animals.
The parents had brought blankets for themselves and their kids to sit on. By the time Cindy, the woman in charge of the reading, began her song and dance, there were at least 75 kids and parents in attendance. Cindy read two books; one was about fire fighters. Cindy, who was an elementary school teacher, then had the kids follow her lead in doing some body motion work and singing a song about smoke detectors. She then introduced Sparky, the fire department mascot.
Cindy did what she had to do in 25 minutes. I was impressed. This, I thought, is what I’d like to be doing with kids. I saw it was possible to read, use movement, and in the process, keep kids engaged. And, given the numbers, I saw that Palmer has a rapt audience for this kind of thing.
After, the parents and kids checked out the books. I walked around and talked with parents and passed out bookmarks.
After, Rachel said that there will soon be a Palmer Public Library Community Meeting and that she’ll let me know when this is. I suspect that the role of the Bright Lights Book Project is going to be on site during events and passing out books. This is fine with me.
Everyone left, and the fire station employees assisted me in loading the books up, back into my car.
I headed for the recycling center where Pete and Bill were finishing up salvaging books. Our Title Wave haul saved the day – there were not many books at VCRS for us to choose from. Pete and I agreed, these books were a cut above the rest, so we’ll get more.
I spent the rest of the afternoon sorting and categorizing the books that Pete dropped off from the recycling center, then went home.
Both Pete and I then went to a Backcountry Horsemen of Alaska meeting. I am going to have to resume pushing on horse related doors.
Next: 57. 2/26/23: Walking Horses |