ORANGE : Books Are a Hot Item at Youth Home

The young boys raised their hands, waved their arms wildly and pleaded with Pam Carlson to choose them one afternoon last week at Orangewood Children’s Home as she passed out a hot commodity: books.

“Me, me, me, me” and “Please, I want that one” the boys frantically cried as Carlson, a children’s library specialist, held up mysteries, adventures, fantasies and riddle books.

“They do that at every session. They fight over the books and it’s just great,” Carlson said.

Matt, 12, was the ecstatic winner of the chance to check out “The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe” by C.S. Lewis.

“I’ve read this book so many times and I love it,” he said with a huge smile on his face. “There’s these kids that go through a wardrobe and they meet a lion and all kinds of people.”

The afternoon program for 8- to 12-year-old boys is one component of the Orange County Public Library’s program at Orangewood, the county’s home for abused and neglected children. Library officials started the program, called Stars (Storytimes, Activities, Reaching in Shelters), a year ago. Since then, more than 100 library cards have been issued and hundreds of books have been given away to children who participate.

Besides the weekly afternoon session for boys, activities are offered for toddlers, 5- to 8-year-olds and 8- to 12-year-old girls. In addition, a storytelling class teaches the older children to share stories with preschoolers.

Library administrators say Stars may be a unique program. “As far as we know, this is the only program of its kind in the nation, where library services are being provided directly to a home for abused and neglected children,” said Lynn Eisenhut, children’s services coordinator for the county public library system.

The program was created to encourage children to read and teach them that the library is a place they can go to, with free services, once they are back in the community, Eisenhut said.

“It gets the kids active in reading books and in looking through books, which is something they’re not accustomed to,” said Dean Sutton, a counselor at Orangewood, located in Orange.

At the session last week, boys played a game with painted Popsicle sticks in which they rushed to drop the sticks on the table over and over again as fast as they could. “Yes, it’s a true Indian game. I read it in a book and I’ll show you later if you want,” Carlson said.

Bob Theemling, director of Orangewood, said the “biggest thing the program has been able to do is hook kids on the idea that reading can be fun and turn them into elective readers.”