YMCA mentoring program "Building Futures" includes public libraries as key destinations for mentors and their young mentees. Library visits make sense, given the weekly year-long relationship building and mentoring that adults and young people experience. Mentoring images often show fun activities like the zoo, sports games, or amusement park rides but visiting the local library for the first time, getting a library card, finding a special favorite corner of the library is a comfortable routine that builds future library lovers. Enjoy the video:
Note from Imperial County Free Library Director Connie Barrington on how her library system works with a mentoring program: "I am very proud of our partnership with the Foster Grandparent program in Imperial County, run by Catholic Charities. The Library staff have provided training for working on literacy, we are utilizing a few volunteer grandparents this summer as volunteers and our partnership with the Probation Dept., the Juvenile hall staff and the FGPs assigned to Juvie hall is exemplary. I worked with a small budget provided by Probation and created a special library collection just for Juvenile Hall. The FGPs handle circulation. We have also jointly raised funds for other support for them, such as $ from a local prisoner’s group that bought a “boom box” so the FGPs can utilize ICFL audio books for literacy support. ICFL materials are loaned to the FGPs for use with their “grandchildren” and FGPs refer the children to local libraries."
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1 comment:
Great story! It's hard to imagine a better mentoring experience, one that not only educates but can help introduce the joys of reading. Help these kids become life-long book lovers and they will greatly benefit. Good stuff!
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