CLASS VISITS

One of ABREN’s goals is to use our resources and knowledge to reach as many youth as possible. One way we do this is by inviting teachers to bring their classes on field trips to the library. The majority of those classes come from small, rural communities. For these students, it is often their first time visiting a library.

Students spend their day rotating in groups between several activities prepared by the librarians to meet their gradelevel-specific needs. Students participate in hands-on math lessons that help them understand the concepts they are studying in class, discover the joy of listening to and engaging with quality literature as they learn new comprehension strategies, and receive a social studies or science lesson planned by their classroom teacher using the library’s resources. At recess, all students love the opportunity to play in our unique playground! After their field trip to the library, many students return independently to participate in other ABREN programs.

The field trip program has been universally popular among both teachers and students. In 2008, we hope to greatly expand this program, with Irma taking on the new role of Public School Liaison, by offering more availability and greater program diversity. In addition, if we can secure funding, we would like to be able to offer scholarships to rural schools, as the transportation cost of traveling into town can be prohibitive for many families.