By Collin Perez
Contributing Writer
GREEN BAY – The Brown County Library Southwest Branch is hosting a “Book Buddies” program 4:30-5:30 p.m., Mondays through Wednesdays, where high school students assist youth, kindergarten to third grade with reading.
The program is currently being spearheaded by Notre Dame Academy Senior Henry Streckenbach.
“It just started recently. We started it, I suppose in September, it’s been kind of slow-moving, but we’re hoping to get the word out so we can get a few more kids and a few more volunteers to help us out with the program,” said Karla Giraldez, the manager of the Ashwaubenon and southwest library branches.
“My biggest struggle with Book Buddies so far has been patience, understanding that some days no kids will come in and some days there will be multiple waiting at a time,” Streckenbach said.
“The different dynamic of slow days and busy days was kind of draining, but I hope that in the future every day (Monday – Wednesday) is jam-packed with kids looking into learning how to improve their reading.
“My goal with Book Buddies is to create and establish a comfortable place for children to learn how to read throughout all the branches of the library.”
Streckenbach has prior experience running a busy schedule adding, “During my week, I typically balance Book Buddies with homework, exercise and seeing friends. Luckily finding the sweet spot for how I like my schedule balanced is not hard, because I once played football but this program has filled that void in my weeks.
“I plan to continue doing it until I cannot anymore, then pass it down and keep the program running through whoever shares a common interest of making a positive impact on the community.”
Streckenbach has been working with kids for three months now and has garnered a lot of experience, although the library provided him with training to help him get started, as they would with any program volunteers.
“My favorite moments from the program as a whole has to be when the kids finally get comfortable,” he said. “At first, as assumed they are nervous and don’t want to mess up and embarrass themselves, but I feel as if I do a good job to make it a safe zone and once they realize, the smiles, laughs and overall excitement and energy is what can really get me through my day.
“I also would like to give my appreciation to Karla and Sarah from the Brown County Library for helping me make this happen and helping guide me through solving a problem with my actions.”
“We haven’t had a whole lot of kids coming yet; it takes a while for the word to get out, but the ones who have come and have come back have really enjoyed reading to Henry and I can think of one family, in particular, the mom’s like, ‘I bring him because he doesn’t want to read to me.’ You know, it’s like if you’re reading to your parents sometimes it feels like work I think if you have to read to a parent after school, but if you’re reading to a buddy it’s a different story. Henry makes it fun and it’s like having a big brother to read to,” said Giraldez. “It was Henry’s idea, he wanted to do something to help give back to the community and he’s very interested in helping people read and supportive of the library, so we’re thrilled to have Henry.”
The program has been helpful in getting the kids reading in a different, but safe space.
For more information on the program, email [email protected].