Kellond Library Comes to Life

Kellond Library Comes to Life

After weeks of sorting, labeling, discarding, decorating, and reorganizing, the Kellond Elementary School library is doing exactly what everyone hoped it would do: welcoming children in and helping them find books they want to read.

The transformation has moved from setup to use. Students are now coming into the library, checking out books, asking questions, and learning how the new system works.

Altrusa volunteers are still helping behind the scenes, but the focus has shifted. Instead of building the new structure of the library, they are now helping students and staff use it.

Reading With the Preschoolers

This month, Elaine Wilder and Susan Young each spent time reading to Kellond preschoolers before the children chose books to take back to their classrooms.

The photos tell the story well. Children gathered on the bright library rug, listening closely as Elaine and Susan read aloud, then moved into the shelves to choose books for themselves.

That simple routine is exactly what the months of work were meant to support: making the library feel inviting, accessible, and easy for young readers to explore.

Susan’s first preschool group also learned a song before listening to a story and choosing books. The children are using books that Altrusa volunteers previously prepared with cards and pockets so they can be checked out and tracked.

A System That’s Working

The new interest-based organization is already making a difference.

Colored dots placed inside the books help students identify sections and make it easier to return books to the correct shelves. Altrusa volunteers spent many hours sorting and labeling books into categories such as mystery, historical fiction, realistic fiction, fantasy, animal stories, sports, and the Growing Readers section.

Now, as books begin circulating, the value of that work is becoming clear.

Gail Dent recently helped a class check out books while Kellond librarian Adrienne Magee observed and learned the new system. More books are still being processed and added to the library, so the work continues even as students begin using the space.

Questions Are Part of Reading, Too

The library is also becoming a place where students can explore ideas and ask questions.

During a recent visit, sixth graders had questions about the banned and challenged books section. Gail talked with them about why some books have been challenged or removed in different places and explained that Arizona has its own history with books being removed and later returned to school shelves.

The conversation was another sign that the library is becoming more than a room full of books. It is becoming a place where students can discover, question, compare, and think for themselves.

The Work Continues

There are still shelves to straighten, books to process, and sections to refine, but the most important part of the project is already happening.

Children are using the library.

For the Altrusans who spent hours hauling boxes, adding colored dots, alphabetizing picture books, creating sections, and helping organize the space, seeing students sitting on the rug with a story or leaving with a book in hand may be the best measure of success.

The Kellond library is no longer simply a project in progress.

It is becoming part of the students’ school day.