The Summer Library Program Volunteer
By Susi Gilbert

This summer I will be volunteering at the prize table for the Summer Reading Program, just like I have the last three summers. You learn a lot working at the prize table, like what kinds of days people like best for coming to the library in the summer (hot days and rainy days), and how to hang inflatable animals from the ceiling. But the best part is seeing the kids who come to proudly collect their prizes. They have read their books and gotten their stamp and now they get to spend their points. Maybe they’ll splurge on small things, stickers and pencils and little plastic animals, or maybe they’ve been saving for a stuffed animal or a book or an inflatable animal (hanging from the ceiling!). Some are excited, some are disappointed (the plastic swimming pools are for display only), but what unites them is their game boards and the frantic search for a book with the letter O in the title or author’s name and the desperate hope that when they come in next time the prizes they have their hearts set on will still be there. I will volunteer for the Summer Reading Program as long as I can, because it’s fun, because I love to see the smiles on the youngest kids’ faces when you tell them that they get to spin for a sticker, because the air conditioning in the library feels wonderful in the summer, and because you get to help kids find out that reading is the coolest thing out there.