Medfield Girl Scout Brings Golden Opportunity to Young Readers on Mission Hill

Determined to instill a love of books and reading in young children, Medfield Girl Scout Kara O’Connell created a program, for her Girl Scout Gold Award project, at the Betty Powers Library on Mission Hill, to offer children living in the community access to age-appropriate books, story time sessions and crafts in a fun, safe environment.

Recognizing the importance of literacy in young children, O’Connell, a 10th grader – and Medfield’s youngest Gold Award recipient this year – found out many of the Roxbury Tenants of the Harvard/Mission Hill community’s children were below desired reading levels when entering elementary school.

Part of the problem, according to O’Connell's research, was that the children were not being exposed to books at an early age. Limited library funding made it difficult to create programs directed to and purchase books for children ages three to six years. To make matters worse, the horrific fire truck crash into the Betty Powers Library back in January 2009 did so much damage to the library it had to close for nearly a year for repairs.

“I wanted to create a program that made young children feel welcomed by the library and expose them to books at an earlier age,” O'Connell said of her Gold Award project.

To pursue one of her goals – building the library’s collection of preschool and Kindergarten-age books – O’Connell collected over 2,000 used books to be shelved at the library, given to children or sold at the community annual block festival. O’Connell also consulted the Boston Public Schools’ recommended reading lists for Kindergarteners, and made sure, wherever possible to incorporate these books into the story time sessions and make them available to borrowers.

O’Connell also added to the library’s resources by raising money to buy more than 100 new books for story time, craft boxes and supplies. She left behind an important legacy – craft binders with project templates and 52 carefully researched craft examples, as well as boxes with two books and a craft for each week of the month.

The program has been a tremendous success, with ample participation at the story time and craft sessions, which began last fall, and very positive feedback from the children, their parents and library staff.

“My ultimate goal with this project was to create an environment in the library that preschoolers would enjoy,” said O’Connell. “I can tell that it’s working. The kids seem to be more comfortable in the library. Several come back every week. And everyone who attends has a lot of fun.”

O’Connell continues to volunteer at the library monthly and hopes that her program continues to flourish.

O’Connell, along with five other Medfield Girl Scout Gold Award recipients, will be honored at a special Gold Award Ceremony from 1 to 3 p.m. on Sunday, March 4 at , 133 Spring St. (Route 27) in Medfield.

The Girl Scout Gold Award is the most prestigious award available in Girl Scouting and is only earned by Girl scouts who demonstrate an exceptional commitment to their communities and an outstanding dedication to achievement.

To earn the Gold Award, scouts must complete a series of prerequisites that require a minimum of 80 hours and require anywhere from 18 months to two years to complete. These pre-requisites are designed to give the Girl Scouts experiences in goal setting, leadership, career exploration and community service.