Kellond Library Nears a New Chapter
On Friday morning, Susan Young was fitting colorful library posters into frames while other Altrusa volunteers sorted, stickered, cleaned, and shelved books around her. After weeks of intensive work at Kellond Elementary School, Principal Angela Schiavone’s vision for a vibrant literacy center is coming together.
Those newly framed posters are one of the finishing touches. Each identifies one of the interest sections Altrusans have helped create, and the next step will be getting them on the walls above the appropriate shelves. Combined with the strings of lights, colorful rugs and furniture, book-themed ceiling tiles, and the wonderful floor-to-ceiling tree in the Growing Readers area, the library looks very different from the little-used space Altrusa first entered a month ago.
Thousands of Books and Many Volunteer Hours
Some of the biggest accomplishments aren’t as easy to see.
About 3,000 outdated books identified by the school for removal have now been donated to Friends of the Pima County Public Library. The organization can sell the books and use the proceeds to support county libraries, while books that can’t be sold are recycled.
Before those books could leave Kellond, however, they had to be officially removed from the library system. Elsa Nelson alone spent about 15 hours at the computer completing that painstaking work. Elaine Wilder, Marcia Lucas, and community volunteer Noe Gaxiola, the husband of Kellond teacher Gina Carrillo, transported boxes and boxes of books to Friends of the Library.
Meanwhile, virtually every Altrusan who has worked at Kellond has helped sort, sticker, or arrange the books that are staying.
The new system organizes books by student interests rather than relying solely on traditional library classifications. Colored dots inside the books correspond with sections such as mystery and horror, historical fiction, realistic fiction, fantasy, animal stories, sports, and other areas, making it easier for students to browse—and easier to return checked-out books to the right place.
On Friday, Elsa tackled the large historical fiction collection, while Pat Young completed the mystery and horror section. Pat has devoted at least 10 hours to adding dots, with Susan keeping books moving to and from the correct locations. Gail Dent has also been sorting picture books and identifying titles for the Growing Readers area, along with special collections that will help teachers quickly find books on subjects such as history, math, Arizona, and more.
Growing Readers Inside and Out
Elda Lopez has concentrated much of her recent work on the “Growing Readers” area, designed especially for children developing their reading skills.
The welcoming space doesn’t necessarily have to end at the library door.
Elda and new library assistant Adrienne Magee also tackled an outdoor area where students once sat and read. Fourth-grade students helped Adrienne get the cleanup started, and Elda joined her Friday for the decidedly less glamorous part of the transformation—raking in the summer heat and filling several bags with debris.
The hope is that the outdoor area can once again become an extension of the library. A donated bench would help make that possible, giving students another place to settle in with a book when the weather cooperates.
A Partnership That Made the Difference
Throughout the project, Principal Angela Schiavone has invested an extraordinary amount of time and energy in creating a library her students will want to use. Kellond staff members, including the fourth-grade GATE teacher and playground monitors, have joined the effort as well.
Altrusa’s role has been to help turn Angela’s vision into reality, and the partnership has proven to be a natural fit. Adrienne, who taught kindergarten and first grade at Kellond for many years, was herself an Altrusan early in her teaching career.
The most intensive phase of the project is now nearing completion. Some sorting and alphabetizing remain, and Altrusans expect to continue helping Adrienne put books away and straighten shelves on Fridays while other volunteers work through books still stored in the storage room on Mondays.
What began as a major reorganization is also developing into an ongoing relationship with the school, with possibilities for reading to students and helping in other ways as the year progresses.
A month of sorting, hauling, dotting, cleaning, decorating, and countless volunteer hours has made an enormous difference.
The best measure of that work will come soon, when Kellond students walk into their transformed library and start exploring it for themselves.