Off icialKidsMag.com • FEBRUARY 2018 • 41
Springdale library
offers books,
backpacks to meet
kid's needs
Sarah Loch was destined to be
a librarian from a very early age.
"I always loved books and
reading as a kid," she said.
When I was trying to find a
profession that would allow me
to share that love of books
and reading with other people,
libraries were the perfect
fit. The times I've felt most
successful as a librarian is where
I've found a person who thinks
they don't like to read and I've
found the book that changes
their mind."
Even as a 10-year-old
Sarah, the "young adult"
librarian at the Springdale Public
Library, pushed her pro-reading
agenda on her friends and
family.
"I was very convinced of
my own intelligence because I
read lots of books," she said,
laughing a little. "I was always
trying to share the facts that I
learned from those books
with other people."
Her enthusiasm for books,
reading and learning wasn't
always appreciated.
"I did learn how to reign
it in a bit as I aged. I had
a lot of younger siblings so
I kind of grew into that."
Flash forward about 25 years
and Sarah is still
advocating for books,
reading and learning.
It's her job, and one
she loves.
"Our
programming for
children at the
Springdale Public
Library is very
popular," she
said. "We offer
programming for
birth through
age 12. We have
regular story
times for babies,
toddlers and
preschool age
children. We
have a bilingual
story time for our Spanish
speaking families and those who
would like their children to be
more literate in Spanish.
"For school age kids we offer
a variety of educational and
STEM based programs. It's
called after school STEAM."
STEM, an
acronym for Science,
Technology, Engineering
and Math, is a focus in
many school districts around
the country. It's meant to
make future generations more
competitive in those core areas
of knowledge. Many programs
are now including Arts in the
initiative. That makes STEM into
STEAM.
And each program has
different theme and they all
involve hands-on activities to
teach children science,
technology
engineering art and math
principles.
"We have STEAM back packs
that can be checked out by
parents with different activities
in each one," she explained.
Sarah
Loch,
Springdale
Librarian
