Libraries provide sanctuary, especially for youth

ELIZABETHTOWN — Several middle schoolers from Elizabethtown Christian Academy spent part of yesterday volunteering at the Bladen County Public Library. Their objective was to hide Easter eggs for the library’s special Easter Storytime.

The Bladen County Public Library holds Storytime every first and third Thursday for children ages five and under, and yesterday’s special Easter edition featured an egg hunt and the Easter Bunny himself.

Once the volunteers had accomplished their mission of concealing the locations of the eggs, they were able to hang out in the library’s Teen Zone, which is equipt with bean bag chairs and plenty of books for teenaged readers to both get lost and find themselves in.

Sheila Nance, Bladen County Library Director, has been busy over the last year ensuring that Bladen County youths have a place at the library. When she first entered the position a little less than a year ago, Nance had big dreams that focused on kids and teens in the community.

In August of last year, Nance expressed her desire to partner with Bladen County Schools, saying “I feel we could work well together to help the kids of Bladen County. We’ve got so much to offer here. And they’ve done a lot of that in the past. I just want to refine and add to it. I have a lot of contacts in the school system.”

Libraries are particularly important to young children and teenagers. For children, libraries provide access to media in a safe environment with trusted adults and allows them to become comfortable advocating for themselves. Visiting the library as a child helps foster a love of reading that will help them develop skills that will serve them for the rest of their lives.

Reading helps children develop critical thinking skills, empathy, social skills, and cultural awareness that will help them better interact with their peers in school, as well as colleagues when they enter their careers.

Libraries also give teenagers a safe place to hang out, either on their own or with friends. It is no secret that there aren’t too many places young people can spend time with their friends without having to spend a lot of money. At the library, however, there is adult supervision, there are games, and there are scheduled activities outside of just reading.

Nance, a veteran of more than two decades in education, wants the community to know of the many opportunities available for kids, teens, and the community as a whole to engage with the library. Those include homebound delivery, nursing home delivery, outreach programs at daycares and schools, book clubs and summer reading programs, holiday parties, live animal exhibits, crafts and STEM activities for kids, and the bookmobile.

Having volunteers from local schools help with events such as this is a fantastic way to connect Bladen youth with the library and its many resources. It would have been easy for the library staff to hide the eggs themselves, but instead, they demonstrated just another vital role of libraries in the lives of youth: allowing them to feel like useful members of their community.

Nance and the other staff and volunteers at the Bladen County Public Library are constantly working hard and thinking outside of the box to provide the community with knowledge, resources, and family fun!