The scorching heat did not keep the little ones from East Lansing’s 15th annual Stories in the Garden event Tuesday evening, where teenagers and toddlers sat in MSU’s 4-H Children’s Garden for grassy story times.
Stories in the Garden started 15 yeas ago when Mary Hennessy, the young adult librarian at the time, had a vision where teenagers would engage more in the community to serve as role models to the younger generations.
According to the East Lansing’s current Children’s Librarian, Karrie Korrouch, Hennessy always was a trailblazer, working with the teens doing unique and interesting things. She always tried to help teenagers influence the community in a contrastive manor.
“A lot of people think that adolescents are up to no good, always hanging out and not engaging in the community in a positive way,” Korrouch said. “Mary (Hennessy) has always seen young people from a different positive viewpoint and always thought that young people had so much to offer as teenagers, where they can really be role models for younger children and engage in the next generation.”
Thirteen-year-olds Abby Berry and Skylar Jacob from Haslett, Mich. were among 11 other teenagers who read short stories to the children in attendance.
“I go to the East Lansing Public Library a lot and one day, someone came up to me and asked me if I wanted to get involved with this. I was with (Abby) and we decided to do it together,” Jacob said.
The 11 teenage volunteer readers attended a training session on Monday where they learned what kinds of books children like to hear aloud along with reading and presentation skills.
“We go to a planning day, the day before and you plan what books you’re going to grab and they give you some pointers on reading and we get T-shirts.” Berry said.
Together, the two read “Jump On Board the Animal Train,” a short children’s picture book written by Lynne Moore & Naomi Kefford. Five-year-old Riley Cunningham from Dimondale, Mich., was one of the youngsters who listened to the teenagers read.
“I liked the pictures and animals,” Cunningham said when asked her favorite part of the book.
Korrouch said the East Lansing Public Library’s mission is to do collaborative engagements in the community through working with other community organizations to benefit everyone, including this event.
Okemos, Mich., resident Robert Stephenson came out to the event for the first time with his daughter, who was one of the teen readers.
“I think this is a great experience,” Stephenson said. “Showing love of literature is always a good thing.”
Support student media! Please consider donating to The State News and help fund the future of journalism.
