Light Up a Library

* Mission: To promote reading by meeting the library needs of elementary schoolchildren.

For 10 years, the library at Rosewood Avenue Elementary School was in a sorry state. Open only a few hours a day, it was considered “dark” and inaccessible to many students who wanted to use it. Its books were another problem--many were old and ripped, and no inventory had been conducted in almost a decade.

Then, in September, the National Council of Jewish Women stepped in to help.

The council’s Los Angeles chapter gathered 25 volunteers to keep the West Hollywood school library open longer than a few hours a day.

Through private funding, donations and a grant from the city of West Hollywood, the volunteers also were able to repair materials, purchase two computers and buy about 5,000 books. The library reopened Jan. 21 and is now staffed with volunteer librarians during school hours.

All the school’s 30 classes now visit the library weekly for story times and independent reading. So far, $7,000 has been spent for repairs, and $2,000 more will be spent to purchase books.

Soon, the library will be open during lunch and before and after school for students. A tutoring program is scheduled to start soon.

* Quote: “We inventoried, shelved and repaired, but the library didn’t come to life until the children came in. You see their faces when they are reading in here and it’s exciting.”

--Ruth Linden, library volunteer