My childhood friend, who has been living abroad with her family for the past 24 years, recently returned to live in Atlanta, Georgia. I recently reconnected with her and we visited a classic bookstore in St. Pete together.
Each year we add new books to our library and although we try to read them all before we shelf them, sometimes we rely on the expertise of others to determine if it’s a good book for Camp Runoia. Little did I know, I hit the JACKPOT with Ann.
I discovered she had gotten her masters in Library Science while living in Cairo and when she moved to Phnom Penh, she was a librarian in the American School. So, I picked her brain about suggestions of books with female protagonists for the Runoia library.
My to my delight, after our visit she sent me a catalogue of suggested titles with genre, summary and review by Ann. WOW!
Weeks have gone by since I’ve seen Ann and this past week, she emails me out of the blue to say she was so inspired by our night time reading aloud in cabins at bed time, our lending library and our word of the day at assembly that she has been on a mission to bring us books. She has been perusing yard sales in her neighborhood and has collected almost 100 quality books for the Runoia library! She asked if she could drop them off when she is in NE in June. A resounding YES was the answer.
At Runoia, we celebrate reading. It might sound funny that that’s a thing at camp but between Rest Hour reading, reading out loud at bed time and reading by flashlight, summer reading and reading for joy, campers and counselors read an extraordinary amount of books each summer at Runoia. Our typical count is around 7-800 books a summer. And yes, we do count!
We also have a book club each summer. Our Assistant Director, Barb St. Peter, will be selecting and announcing the book this month. Barb runs the club which meets a few times during the session to discuss the book.
Reading as a pastime, for relaxation, for knowledge, discovery or curiosity is a life skill we value at Runoia. Plus is a lot of fun! What books will you bring to camp or take on vacation this summer? If you’re a camper reading this blog, get ready for a new section in the library from my friend, Ann!