Gladys Noon Spellman Elementary's Jennifer Hummel is trapped under a pile of books, and more than a dozen Cheverly volunteers are on a rescue mission to pull the library media specialist out.
A group of 14 parents and retirees known as the Gladys Noon Spellman Elementary Library Corps will pledge at least two hours one Tuesday per month to check in and shelve books at the Cheverly school to help Hummel, who was assigned to three schools including Spellman after more than 90 specialist positions were cut from the school system budget this spring.
"On the days I'm not there, the students basically have no access [to the library]," Hummel said.
Knowing Hummel would be stretched thin, Spellman principal Susan Holiday came up with the idea for the corps in August, and PTA president Aimee Olivo spread the word through the online Cheverly Exchange list serve and the town of Cheverly newsletter to get interest.
Olivo said she would like to develop a model of the program with the PTA, Holiday and Hummel after getting any kinks worked out, and spread the word on a community level through networks such as Parental Engagement with PGCPS, a blog run by former coordinating supervisor for parental engagement Michael Robinson.
Cheverly residents such as recent retiree Maurice Stewart took turns Friday practicing how to check in books, mark which books are on hold for other students and shelve them in the right sections. Stewart, who retired in February after 38 years with the U.S. Department of Education, said he is interested in library science and he needs to start somewhere.
"I have the time, and I'm interested," Stewart said. "It's something that I'd like to see maybe turn into a career."
Scheduled for Wednesdays and Fridays, Hummel said she is often forced to choose between helping Spellman students or catching up on a backlog of books — particularly popular book series such as Prince George’s native Jeff Kinney's "Diary of a Wimpy Kid" — that need to be checked in. She said her job isn’t just checking in books but to teach children about Internet safety, how to evaluate websites for bias and accuracy and how to create PowerPoint slideshow presentations.
"I'm exhausted, and it's frustrating because I know what it could be because it's been there," said Hummel, who is at Landover's Oakcrest Elementary on Tuesdays and Thursdays and Cheverly's Judith P. Hoyer Montessori on Mondays. "I just feel like there's so much more I need to be doing for these kids, and I literally can't do it because there's not enough hours in the day."
Olivo said interested volunteers had to visit a trailer behind Upper Marlboro's Sasscer Administration Building during the day to pay for a $7 background check that would last for one school year.
Hummel had volunteers get background checks to help with Oakcrest’s Scholastic Book Fair held Oct. 24 through Nov. 2, but currently there are no volunteers who come in to help on a regular basis, according to Oakcrest principal Wanda Robinson.
Holiday said her school does not have the staff to keep the library open all five days a week for Spellman's 560 students. As Hummel rolls through as many classes as she can during her two days at Spellman, Holiday remains grateful to the volunteers that will help pick up some slack and that children will get access to their favorite books that much faster.
"It's a win for the students," Holiday said. "It helps Mrs. Hummel be able to teach for the two days, and it's a win for the school. The more we're able to get our community invested in our school, the better off we are."
nmcgill@gazette.net
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