Vocation in Summer Vacation

I have two significant memories at the Oak Park Public Library 20 years ago in 2003.

On October 3, the current Main Library building had its grand opening.  My whole family went to see it that day.  There are certainly many impressive features.  I ended up spending a chunk of time searching for a book for a school book report assignment.

Of more personal significance was something that happened the previous summer.

I had enjoyed participating in the children's summer reading program summer after summer, up until I started 6th grade at Julian.

At that point, when I aged out, I was eager to take the next step and become a teen volunteer.  I had enjoyed participating in the program so much, and I wanted to give back to the community that had given me so much.

During that summer and the following 5 summers, I would volunteer at the table for the children's summer reading program, signing them up, and then checking their progress as the weeks passed.

I had so much fun heading over to Maze Branch Library, usually once or twice a week.  Looking back on it, I was in my element with my extroverted personality, spending time interacting with the children who came, along with their parents and caregivers.  I also enjoyed the company of my fellow volunteers.  There were also the staff who oversaw the volunteers, like the legendary Marsha Cooper, along with Ms. Nadine, Dani, Candace, and Megan.

Each year there was a different theme, including Western, cinema, and medieval.  Sometimes, I helped with special programming, like a castle-themed kick-off party that was just days following my 8th grade graduation, for which I used my gown and a crown hat I had from a 6th grade field trip to Medieval Times.  Other times, I helped with Bingo.

Those summers were a wonderful time that really helped make me the best version of myself.  The hours I spent at the library helped me get a vision of a community larger than myself, and contribute to it.  I'm sure it also was a contributing factor to my job at the main OPPL years later.

In some respects, library volunteering aligned with the amazing experience I had at Julian, in which I learned to be part of something bigger than myself.  As I see it now, I was realizing that my vocation in life is to give to others.  I'm grateful for how the OPPL helped build me as a person.