Northview — As students browse the shelves of the East Oakview Elementary library, one first-grader eagerly steps up to the checkout desk with a book in hand. Sue Cook is there to greet him, asking his last name and then scanning for it on the computer screen.
“Guess what?” Cook asks the child excitedly. “You brought your book back! You get to take a book home today!”
The boy beams, and Cook matches his enthusiasm. “Yay!” she gushes.
Every Thursday morning for going on 13 years now, Cook has been repeating those same sentences over and over, to student after student, sharing the good news that they get to take a library book home for the week. Her smile never fades; she never tires of encouraging kids to read.
She considers herself “only” a volunteer, but teacher librarian Kurt Stroh begs to differ.
“I don’t think (Cook) knows how much she helps me — how valuable she’s been,” said Stroh, who began working in the library the same year Cook began volunteering there.
“You just couldn’t do all this —” he gestures widely across the room — “without some help. Without her. She’s not just a volunteer; she’s a piece of the library.”
‘Schools are not just the teachers and the students. It’s important that kids see people other than their teachers getting involved in their education.’
— library volunteer Sue Cook
‘Always a thrill’
A retired Catholic school teacher, Cook’s grandsons attended East Oakview; they’re the reason she originally thought to volunteer at the school. While the youngest has since graduated and this is the first school year without a grandson at East, she’s committed to the work.
“I love working with kids. I love interacting with them,” she said. “You never know what’s going to come out of their mouths. I know Kurt was worried that I might not come back (when the grandsons left), but it’s been a good thing for me, and I felt I needed to be here with the kids.”
Cook’s Thursday mornings in the library begin bright and early as she cheerfully greets student representatives from each classroom at the start of the school day. They’re there to return all the books collected from their classmates that week; returning a book means a student is eligible to check out a new book the next time they visit the library. She makes small talk with each student as they unload their tubs full of books, check each one in and place them carefully on the book-return cart.
The rest of the morning, Cook splits her time between returning books and the checkout desk. As Stroh welcomes students in for their library class, she works in the background to bring each of the returned books to their proper shelf location in the library — making sure they’re available for the next student who might want to give it a read. When Stroh lets his classes loose to pick out their book for the next week, she’s there at the desk to enthusiastically walk through the checkout process when a kid is ready.
“It’s very detailed work, making sure they’re in the right place (on the shelves) — I really get my steps in (walking around the library),” she said. “And when they’re ready to check out, sometimes there’s a little tough love when you have to tell (a student) they didn’t return their book and ask them to bring it back next week.
“But one of the thrills with the little ones is telling them they get to take a book home. They get so excited to take home a book and it’s fun to see their faces just light up. It’s always a thrill, every time.”
Hard Work Behind the Scenes
Stroh said Cook’s regular presence at the checkout desk means he’s able to do his job better, especially when it comes to pairing students with the perfect book.
“She frees me up to be out ‘book-talking,’ helping that reluctant shopper find something they might be interested in, (or) finding (a book) they’re asking about,” he said. “If she wasn’t here, I’m stuck behind the desk checking out books and (kids are) just kind of roaming around the library on their own, maybe not finding what they need.”
Cook’s efficiency in restocking shelves when books are returned can be a huge help too, he said.
“If I had to do that in between teaching, it probably wouldn’t get done until lunch or after school, and then those books aren’t available for more kids to check out because they haven’t been put back in circulation,” the teacher librarian said. “There’s always some very popular books, and we want them in kids’ hands.”
More than anything, though, Stroh said he appreciates the way Cook shows up for his students. Over the years, she’s established herself as a good listener, a knowledgeable resource, a reassuring presence and a trustworthy adult for the students of East Oakview, he said.
“She has such an ease when she talks to kids; she really has an understanding of children and I can see that in the way they respond to her. They love her,” said Stroh. “She’s not afraid to take care of something if she sees that they need it. Things don’t fluster her.”
Encouraging Community
Cook mostly waves off Stroh’s praise, saying “That’s just who I am.” Every year there are students who tug at her heartstrings, she says; every Thursday she notices at least one student having a hard morning. She does what she can, when she can, to evoke a smile or lift their spirits. To be able to make a positive impact on them, whether in the long run or just for a morning, is what keeps her volunteering.
That, and her belief that a community school is just that — a community.
“Schools are not just the teachers and the students. It’s important that kids see people other than their teachers getting involved in their education,” she said. “Everyone can help make it run and make (education) more interesting.
“And if you’re giving your time, you’re also getting back something great. What I get back is much more than what my time is worth. I go home feeling like I’ve done something worthwhile.”
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