TES first graders visit Troy Public Library

Nearly 200 Troy Elementary School first graders visited the Troy Public Library Wednesday. And, for many of them, it was their first visit to the new facility.

“Several of the children said that they had been to the library before,” said Patrice Wasden, first grade teacher. “We wanted all of our first-grade students to be exposed to the Troy Public Library and to know that it is here for them after school and during the summer.”

Wasden said the first-grade teachers prepared their students for the visit to the TPL by talking with them about the importance of a public library and the proper etiquette when visiting a library.

But the Troy Public Library is not an ordinarisssssshhh! kind of place.

With its castle, puppet stage, learning games and animal pillows, TPL invites creativity and activity, said Teresa Colvin, children’s librarian.

“We want the library to be a fun and inviting place for children to come,” she said. “Play can be educational and creative and the library offers them those kinds of play activities.”

Colvin said puppet shows took center stage throughout the day Wednesday.

“Children’s imaginations are amazing,” she said.

As much fun as the children had at play, it took a back seat to their fascination with the written word.

The children gave their full attention to Colvin as she read a “favorite” story to them. Then they shared their thoughts and ideas for a wordless book.

“‘A Ball for Daisy’ is one of my favorite wordless books and the children enjoyed coming up with the words to make a storyline,” Colvin said. “We had four different versions of ‘A Ball for Daisy.’ The children enjoyed ‘writing’ a book. That’s just another way to generate excitement about reading.”

However, Colvin said young minds are “primed and ready” for reading.

“They are excited about books and they are taking off with their reading skills,” she said. “The more they read, hopefully, the more they’ll want to read and Troy Public Library has many, many wonderful books on all reading levels.

“Books are expensive to buy but, at the public library, books can be read for free. When students are going into the second grade, they can get their own library card. So, that’s a goal that we hope the 200 children who visited the library Wednesday will have this summer – to get their very own library card.”

Colvin said Wednesday was a very rewarding day for her, personally.

“The children were so excited and so appreciative,” she said. “They enjoyed the play activities but they devoured the books and that touched my heart.”