It’s so important to encourage kids to read.
A Federal Way librarian is a pro at it in many ways; more than 40 years as an educator, a lover of books and a thrifty one, at that.
Sitting with a student in her library at Pacific Christian Academy, Pam Nelson’s quizzing a young student on the book she read.
“Road hog drove,” Nelson said. “Where did he drive?”
Pint-sized readers, learning new words, from Nelson and parent volunteers, using the accelerated reader program. This program comes with online tests to prove what they’ve learned.
The library is buzzing these days, having a come long since Nelson took it over, literally from a closet.
“There had been a library over a decade ago,” Nelson said. “Our librarian was released because of economics.”
So, after four decades teaching in a classroom, she transitioned to this new task of building a library. When she started, that closet stores just 1,900 books and today, it’s busting at the seams with more than 8,000 titles.
You might be shocked to learn that this booklover did it, by spending her Saturdays scouring the shelves at local Goodwill stores.
“I think the craziest splurge of a weekend was about $38,” Mrs. Nelson said.
Impressive on its own and even more so when you consider that the average public elementary school library has an average of 27 books per student. The library Mrs. Nelson built at Pacific Christian boasts 43 books per student.
And Mrs. Nelson said when she’s choosing books, she’s only interested in accelerated readers that are in pristine condition.
“And if you buy in bulk through Goodwill the average cost is $.43 a book,” she added.
“It’s amazing to see the passion that she does it with she doesn’t see it as a job she loves that you can see it… for the love she puts into each book,” said Pina Ruiz, a parent and volunteer in the library.
Nelson just got a bonus for all her hard work, an award from Goodwill of the Olympics and Rainier region. She earned the
The Bring Good Home Award, netting a $500 gift card for Goodwill, which will end up adding another 1,000 books to the library.