Renovated library may reinvent reading for Trinity students

Bright pastel paint covers the previously industrial-green walls. New bookshelves have been installed and a table is laden with featured books of the month -- books on presidents this month in honor of the upcoming Presidents Day.

Trinity Lutheran School in Cape Girardeau will hold an open house today to unveil its library.

Volunteer parents and students began work on the project at the beginning of summer.

"Most work will be somewhat invisible to people," said volunteer Cindy Gage.

While the hundreds of hours spent compiling a computerized catalog may not be visible to visitors, students will see the benefits.

No longer are books checked in and out with a written sign-up sheet. With the new catalog, every title, author and Accelerated Reader point value is recorded in a computer. With a few words typed on a new computer, books that were once hard to locate are now easily found.

Tyronza Pringle, a volunteer mother, said the new catalog system tells the library what is in stock and what is needed, important information that will help with future library purchases.

"Anything that can be done to promote reading is desirable," said Pringle. "If they can't read well then it affects all other subjects. It is the first building block for everything else."

This month, National Reading Month, all Trinity students have been racing to read as many books as they can in order to reach the school-wide goal of 1,000 reading points. Finding the books and determining their reading points is easy now that the new library computer system is installed.

Third-grade student Troy Emmons likes the changes. "It is arranged better," he said. Because of that, he is excited to find new books to read.

This year the annual reading program has cultivated students' awareness of the new library facility but more importantly, Gage said, children who have previously lacked interest in reading are eager to devour books in order to take part in the reading goal.

At today's open house in the Trinity gymnasium, each class reading goal will be announced as well as the school-wide goal, which Gage said has already been surpassed. After the assembly, tours of the new library will be given.

cpierce@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 127

WANT TO GO?

* What: Library Open House

* Where: Trinity Lutheran School gymnasium

* When: Today at 2:20 p.m.