Workshops Set for Grandparents and Books

Palisades Branch Library is seeking volunteers for the Grandparents and Books (GAB) program, which pairs adult volunteers with children to encourage the love of reading. Sharing stories with children can improve their reading skills, enrich their imaginations and help them develop a life-long love of reading. The program is intergenerational,’ says Gail Kim, the children’s librarian at the Palisades Branch. ‘It connects people of all different ages, shapes and sizes. ‘In this mobile society, many children don’t live near their biological grandparents,’ Kim continues. ‘And that’s the beauty of this program. We bring the generations together. There’s a historical connection. We also encourage our ‘grandparents’ to bring something in that’s outside of the book experience and share it with the children. Something that’s dear to them, just as a biological grandparent might do. It’s an opportunity to expose some of these children to something they might not have seen before.’ Almost daily, a library grandparent can be found reading aloud from a picture book, or telling stories with puppets. Sometimes, she or he might be listening to a child read and helping with pronunciation and vocabulary, and many times a special connection is made between a reader and child. To become a new GAB volunteer, participants (adults 21 and older) should be willing to make a six-month, two-hour (or more) per week commitment and attend three training sessions that will teach engaging read-aloud techniques and more. Two workshops are required at a specified branch, and the third workshop, which occurs only after completion of the first two, will be at the branch where the volunteer will be reading. The two-session training on the Westside will be Thursdays, October 4 and 11 from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m at the Mar Vista Branch, 12006 Venice Blvd. The GAB program has become a model for other reading programs throughout the world and has a very high volunteer retention rate. Many participants have been involved since the program began in 1995. For more information contact Gail Kim at (310) 459-2754 or visit www.lapl.org/about/gab.html.