THOMAS – After reviewing more than 115 submitted applications, members of the Public Library Association Leadership Development Committee selected 32 folks to attend the Public Library Association Leadership Academy in March – and one of the 32 selected for this honor is from right here in Tucker County. Ivonne Martinez, director of the Mountaintop Public Library will travel to Charleston, S.C. in March to attend the leadership academy.
Martinez said she is thrilled with her selection, and said she plans to get ideas to build the summer reading program at her library.
“The theme of the academy is navigating change and building community,” Martinez said. “We have a summer reading program at the Mountaintop Library but the attendance is not large. Kids come but then they do not come back the next year. I am trying to bring the importance of literacy to children at earlier ages.”
Martinez said the academy includes five days of training, and then includes a mentor for six months. She said the academy is provided at no cost, adding she will write grants to cover the cost of travel and accommodations.
While applying for the academy, Martinez said she has three goals – a summer reading program that will maintain children’s attention so they keep coming back year after year and the implementation of after school programs such as homework help and reading aloud partners. She said she is also looking to get her foot into the door to help parents learn to help students read and succeed.
“These programs will not only help elementary and middle school students, but also high school students by providing them an opportunity for volunteer community hours,” Martinez said. “I also hope to change the priority allotted to reading in the community. I want reading to be a very important factor in the lives of children in our community.”
Martinez said reading is so important and more time needs to be dedicated to reading.
“It takes a village,” Martinez said. “It takes a student, a teacher, the parents and grandparents to develop a love of reading. I want children to be able to make good choices and I want folks to know how important this is to me.”
During the past summer, Martinez said she offered a program to help families help their children with reading.
“I had five families for this online program,” Martinez said. “It was all about reading faster and better comprehension while reading. Parents were happy with the help they received from this program. It was very good.”
Martinez has led the Mountaintop Library for seven years, and she said she is noticing much more traffic through the front door.
“We have been very busy here at the library,” Martinez said. “There are kids coming in after school and people come after work during our evening hours for the computer or to check out a book. It is very busy, and is a hub of activity. It is amazing how much busier it is now than seven years ago.”
The Mountaintop Library is close to Davis-Thomas Elementary Middle School and teachers bring their students to the library during the day. Martinez said five grades visit the library weekly or biweekly.
The Public Library Association said the Leadership Academy is a career-changing program designed to empower public librarian participants with the knowledge necessary to be innovative and successful leaders of change. They said its groundbreaking focus develops the skills needed to work with municipal officials to enhance the position and effectiveness of the library and its activities with the community.
Additional information about the Mountaintop Library is available by calling 304-463-4582.
