With summer fast approaching, many schools are looking for ways to encourage summer reading. Bedford City Schools’ Glendale Primary decided that one of the best ways to make sure their students were reading all summer long was to make sure that their students had access to books. To this end, Glendale Primary School has installed a Little Library, also known as a book box, in their playground area.
The Little Library was unveiled at a school wide ceremony on June 5, 2018. All of the students at the school came together at an assembly to see the new Little Library, to hear the history of Little Libraries and to hear about all the people who were involved in creating the Glendale Little Library. Also in attendance was Dr. Andrea Celico, the school superintendent, Dr. Cassandra Johnson, the assistant superintendent and Heather Rhoades, councilwoman for Ward 5.
A presentation by Mrs. Wilms told the students that Little Libraries started out as a tribute to the mother of the builder of the original Little Library, Todd Bol. Mr. Bol’s mother had been a teacher who loved to read and the Little Library seemed like a wonderful way to honor her memory. The Little Library concept was adopted by other people and there are now over 70,000 Little Libraries world wide.
The idea of Glendale Primary installing a Little Library was brought to Mrs. Beach by Jayden Dressman, who is a 1st grade student at Glendale Primary. Jayden even went so far as to make sure that there were books for the Little Library by asking for books for donations rather gifts at his birthday party. Because of his generosity, Jayden was able to gather a great many books for the Little Library, which will be used to fill the Little Library over the summer.
The Little Library was built by Scot Martin, a Bedford resident and will be hung by Paul Stoltz. Mrs. Talpas, Glendale’s art teacher, along with Glendale students Savannah Rue, Destiny Hayes, Christopher Towns, Alison Shea and Kelsea Williams, painted the Little Library.
Glendale’s Peacemakers Club gives a presentation about the importance of peace.
There was also a presentation to the students by the Glendale Peacemakers Club on the importance of peace in our day to day lives.
The Glendale Primary family would like to encourage everyone in Bedford to visit their Little Library this summer and to both take and bring books. The Little Library can be found next to the Glendale Primary playground. If you are interested in donating children’s books to the Glendale Little Library, please contact Mrs. Beach at 440-439-4227.
