Denver Public Library and TJ partnership draws in readers with cool opportunities.
Artwork by Katie Boyer
Over the past four years, the Denver Public Library and Thomas Jefferson have united to encourage students to read at the library. With branches ranging from U-Hills, located on Yale Avenue, to Virginia Village on South Dahlia Street, Denver Public Library is available all across the city, and the partnership between the two libraries includes help with job hunting and prizes at TJ for DPL summer reading logs, as well as volunteer opportunities.
Over the summer, many students participate in the Teen Summer Reading Program which awards them with cool key chains or Six Flags passes, and free books. If readers didn’t claim their prizes by the end of summer, usually it meant tough luck until next year. This year, however, TJ now gives kids a chance to present their summer reading logs to TJ Librarian Sudi Stodola, and pick out a piece of candy! If that wasn’t wonderful enough, Stodola is also rewarding students who submit reading reviews. “’Feed Your Mind, Rot Your Teeth’ is something new where if you read a book that you liked, you can complete a recommendation form and pick out a piece of candy. Also, for the freshmen taking Intro to Lit and Comp Honors with Jacquelyn Hudson-Raila, she’s offering extra credit for the submission of these reviews,” Stodola said.
Hudson-Raila’s students are pleased with this new opportunity that’s been presented. “I like the ‘Feed Your Mind, Rot Your Teeth’ program. It gives me a chance to express my opinion on the books I read while getting 50 extra points in my honors class. It’s a win-win situation,” said Freshman Kayden Montoya.
The Spartan library, as well as the Denver Public Library, is not only a place to check out books and read in complete silence. While students can get a lot of homework done in this quiet setting, they can also take advantage of other things the libraries have to offer. At the TJ library, there are useful, fact-filled encyclopedias open to students conducting research, and also magazines for browsing. Meanwhile, about the larger, much more public partner of TJ, Spartan Librarian Sudi Stodola said, “The [Denver Public Library] is more than just books. There’s board games like chess, and you can even check out movies there and even CDs. There’s also ‘Career Thursdays’ which help kids fill out resumes, find jobs and even help with filling out applications.”
Looking for jobs and making a resume can be very time consuming and difficult if done without proper guidance, but the library makes it less hard to deal with. “All these processes kids may find stressful, but both libraries work together to make it easier,” Senior Jackie Lovato said.
The Denver Public Library website provides plenty of information on volunteer opportunities, whether at the library itself, or in the community. TJ is encouraging Spartans to check out volunteer options given online to see if they’d like to join in on the fun. ”With this new partnership, it makes it a lot easier for everyone to get involved. Students will find it simple to walk into the [TJ] library, ask Ms. Stodola for pointers, and get volunteer hours that look good on college applications,” Junior Bryan Wilson-Cashmore states.
These benefits are open to all students of Thomas Jefferson and more information can be found in the TJ library, from 7:00 a.m until 3:15 p.m every day. Stodola said, “For the past four years, Denver Public Library and TJ have maintained a strong partnership in the hopes of creating lifelong learners.”
