Meet Aya, a Reading Buddy at Miami Township Branch

While checking out books at her local Library, Aya discovered there were volunteer opportunities! She filled out the application and highlighted her previous volunteer experience with Miamisburg Parks and Recreation and with special events at school. Aya had a goal of serving 100 hours as a volunteer, and DML is not the only organization to benefit from her service and leadership. Aya is the President of the Interact Club, which partners with the local Rotary Club. She leads 25 other students in service opportunities such as the annual pancake breakfast. This extensive community service fulfills her school requirements and is beneficial for college applications. She is considering The Ohio State University for her undergrad work before heading to medical school. The community service hours will also make her eligible for her favorite Youth Leadership Camp, which requires community service hours each year.

Those are not the only reasons to volunteer with the Library, though. Aya shares that she loves to read and wants children to have the same positive memories that she has of her childhood library in New York. She is also the president of her Book Club at school and enjoys reading Great Expectations by Charles Dickens and other classics.  She recently finished Giovanni’s Room by James Baldwin and highly recommends it.

Aya says that volunteer service with DML has been fulfilling and can even be fun. As a Reading Buddy, she understands that each Saturday will be a surprise. Families and children do not make appointments; it is a “drop-in” program. Sharing the bookmarks about Reading Buddies and explaining the opportunity for parents has pushed her to learn a new customer service skill. So many volunteer opportunities for teens are like the pancake breakfast – there are straightforward tasks to complete. With Reading Buddies, though, some sales skills are required. 

Volunteers need to offer and explain the service without being pushy and gracefully accept when a family declines and chooses to do something else in the Library. It is hard to compete with computers and the toys in the Children’s Area; however, Aya does receive repeat customers! A mom brought her son in consistently at the beginning of the summer. This is the most fun - when you can see the progress a child is making and already know what sort of books and stories they find interesting. Perhaps that child, too, will look back as a teenager or an adult and have fond memories of the Library and the Reading Buddies program!

Thank you, Aya, for donating over 61 hours of service and counting, not only with Reading Buddies at Miami Township Branch Library, but also with Pantry Partners and other programs. Thanks to volunteers like Aya, DML has held over 460 Reading Buddies sessions at multiple Branches over the past year.