Croton-Harmon Students Explore Carrie E. Tompkins Elementary Library

From Croton-Harmon Schools:

Students at Carrie E. Tompkins Elementary School in Croton-on-Hudson recently wrapped up their celebration of Parents as Reading Partners Month by participating in a number of reading-related activities.

For the second consecutive year, members of the PTA have been enhancing students’ PARP experience by offering “library expeditions” after school.

“I was really pumped up by all the books on the shelves in our school library,” said Claire Hilbert, a PTA volunteer who started the effort last year. “I thought the kids probably didn’t have enough time to explore all of these great books.”

The expeditions teach students how to find books that interest them in small groups with the help of parent volunteers. Hilbert and other volunteers taught students that fiction books are organized by the authors’ last names, while nonfiction books are ordered by the Dewey Decimal System.

Students toured the library using a specially laid out map with arrows on the ground to discover the sections carrying books featuring topics they are interested in, ranging from pets and sports to volcanoes and more.

Hilbert also read “The Inside-Outside Book of Libraries” by Julie Cummins to show students the many types of libraries that exist around the world, ranging from small mobile libraries to the expansive Library of Congress in Washington, D.C.

Participating students received stickers for successfully finding books that interest them and were able to take home a donated book to read with their families.

Photo Captions: Students at Carrie E. Tompkins Elementary School in Croton-on-Hudson familiarized themselves with the school’s library during PARP month by participating in PTA-led Library Expeditions.

Photos courtesy of the Croton-Harmon Schools