Initial Reflection

The Lexington Public Library

 

The Lexington Public Library is so much more than just books.  

 The Lexington Public Library Central Branch and five neighborhood branches serve Lexington with events ranging from the expected story telling groups to guitar lessons and haunted tours of Lexington.  Whether through computer classes, crafts, foreign language classes, or its many different outreach programs, the Lexington public library brings the community together and provides programs meeting the needs of +300,000 of adults, teens and children in the Lexington area.

The Village Branch and Homework Help

I will be volunteering at the Village Branch with the Homework Help Program.

When the Village Branch of the Lexington Public Library opened in 2004, the staff became aware of need for homework help for the children of the Cardinal Valley area.  They began the program, Homework Help, assisting children in grades K-5th with after-school homework guidance. With the help of volunteers, The Village Branch continues to provide services to an average of 20 students a night four days a week.   Volunteers are asked to work one on one with a child providing encouragement, helping students build skills and confidence to learn while completing homework.  

My hope while volunteering is to help the children learn to become comfortable asking for help while practicing and learning skills to complete homework...and maybe have a little fun.

Initial Visit 

My first visit was Monday, September 14^th and I would describe my first impression of the Village Library as crowded and chaotic.  There was a group of teenagers outside the front doors and people were everywhere.  Not sure what to expect, I went to the front desk and was directed to Lynn in the program room. 

Lynn was busy helping checking children in, providing snacks and supplies.  The room was full of tables and chairs and so many children.  After a brief introduction, I was directed to sign in on the volunteer sheet and toward a first grader named Lexi.   

Lexi was one of the two students I worked with on spelling homework.  Initially Lexi was quiet and just opened her workbook. Lexi barely spoke. Apparently she had been here before and knew the routine.  All was going well until Lexi mistakenly wrote out her word in marker in the pencil column, a mistake that seemed to be a crushing blow.  I took the marker making the mistake a flower and handed her the pencil to move on.  I am not sure if this meets the teacher's expectation for correcting mistakes but the smile and relief on Lexi's face made my night.  Lexi read me a book (next assignment) and told me she likes fancy things.

She made me this picture for the next time I was having a tough day...three flowers singing lalala lalala.

After finishing up and looking around, I realized the Village Library was crowed but an organized chaos.  People were busy reading books, doing homework and even socializing but all enjoying themselves.   I finished the night looking forward to my next visit.

Bobbi