Book clubs engage incarcerated youth
Teens at the Juvenile Treatment Center in South Lake Tahoe are doing more than sitting around.
Lynne Brosch and Rich Fischer of Friends of the South Lake Tahoe Public Library have been doing book groups on Monday nights with incarcerate youth.
This program began in September for the girls with the reading of “The House on Mango Street”. Next it was “Age of Miracles”.
Some of the other books include “The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime”, “Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children”, “The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie”, “So.B.It” and “Perilous”.
Brosch wants to provide a variety of genres to cater to the girls’ interests. The biggest challenge has been to find used books in paperback for a reasonable price.
Books read in book group must be limited in violence, sexually explicit material, promotion of drug or alcohol abuse, and vampire stories are also frowned upon.
A boys’ reading group led by Fischer has just begun.
Friends of the Library has donated funds to the purchase of books for the reading group as well as many other titles requested for free reading, along with dictionaries and other reference materials for the school classrooms in the center.
Information about making a donation of either books or financial assistance is available at the library, 1000 Rufus Allen Blvd., South Lake Tahoe. Look for the Wishing Tree and choose a book title to donate or write a check or leave cash.
What a great opportunity for these kids to work on literacy as well as see that reading is a good use of your time, especially if it is time that you have plenty of. A.good book can change a persons life, can be educational, and can help others to understand different ways of life. Thanks Lynne and Rich for shareing your time with these kids.
What an incredible opportunity! Thanks, Lynne and Rich. Kudos! I will definitely be stopping by the library to donate books and money. Reading kept me sane during multiple difficult times in my life and I would imagine it can and will do the same for these kids.
great idea. I’ll be dropping off some of my teens books. Wonder if they have thought about involving teens in this project, like with Teen Court?