Storytime Volunteers Making a Difference in the Lives of Children

Posted By:  Tina Walker Davis
Date Posted:  8/6/2019

Our active and engaging storytimes are fun and dynamic—and they’re so much more. Library storytimes are carefully designed to develop and strengthen the early literacy skills that are essential to getting kids kindergarten ready. Deschutes Public Library is proud to extend our storytime reach beyond our library and into Central Oregon preschools with the help of some dedicated volunteers.

The Library matches highly trained volunteers with private daycares and preschools for weekly library-style storytimes. Our Read, Rhyme, and Romp (RRR) volunteers allow us to bring the benefits of storytime to children at locations we wouldn’t otherwise be able to serve.

The library provides the training and all of the materials needed to lead a storytime (volunteers provide their own transportation). It's a big time commitment, but it comes with big rewards! If you’re interested in being a Read, Rhyme, and Romp volunteer, attend this upcoming session:

From I Read to You Read: Getting a Child Ready to Read

Wednesday, August 21 | 5:30 p.m. | Downtown Bend Library
Before a child learns to read, there are certain skills that need to be encouraged, including a love of books, print awareness, vocabulary, rhyming, and letter knowledge. This workshop, led by a certified Master Trainer on early literacy and author of a book on early literacy, will present ideas about the activities you can do to grow those skills, and the best books to encourage a desire to read. Essential for people interested in being a Read, Rhyme, and Romp volunteer, but open to anyone who would like to learn what you can do to build the skills a child needs to be ready to read, especially parents and preschool teachers.
 

Questions about the program? Email Julie at julieb@deschuteslibrary.org.