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Librarian puts her library on wheels for kids

For students, the long summer break does them no favors. Many children, especially struggling readers get out of practice. Well now one local librarian is doing her part to stop the summer slide.
 

In the summer time at Carman Trails Elementary, the librarian never needs to say shhhhh!

"I get very lonely, "says Library Specialist Leah Plumley.

And so do the books. But now thanks to Ms. Plumley those volumes are speaking volumes.

Since the kids aren't checking out books, every Wednesday she rents out a truck.

"During the school year kids have easy access to books but during the summer months their access is very limited to most kids, "explains Plumley.

So, with help from volunteers and using a system far less complicated than Dewey Decimal, library books go from gathering dust to wanderlust.

Ms. Plumley's rental is transformed into a library on the go.

"The bookmobile gives kids the opportunity to check out books every week from the comfort of their front door, "she told us.

Every Wednesday, it's the highway for these hardcovers with stops at the apartment complexes where many of the families live. For the kids, seeing the Budget truck is like seeing an ice cream truck.

"I look for dogs and animal books because I really like animals, "said a smiling Lexi Mitchell who is 10 years old.

"They're really cute and I want to be a veterinarian when I grow up."

"I picked out this cooking book because me and my mom like to cook a lot, "added 10 year old Emma Thelen.

"We have princess books, super hero books, non-fiction, fiction, "explains Ms. Plumley.

And the kids can check them out just like they would at school.

The bookmobile is on the move for 9 weeks every summer from the end of May to the end of July.

And since the student body at Carman Trails is very diverse, with one in four kids speaking english as a second language, the goal is to keep kids from a summer slide.

"It gives them a chance if they don't have any books at home, it continues on throughout the summer and they don't miss a beat with that, "says Kylee Wright, a Carman Trails mom.

If you ask, you quickly learn that three things made this program possible. Private donations. Dedicated volunteers. And one very devoted librarian.

"I think she's a really good teacher and she's really nice, "Lexi told us.

"To do something like this for the kids during the summer time when a lot of them normally would be missing out on that, it says a lot for her, "said Wright.

One woman writing a new chapter for a child's summer education with a program that's one for the books.

"It just makes my heart so full, "says Ms. Plumley.

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