First Lady in the News

First Lady Pays Visit

Thursday, 24 July 2008

By Richard Toynton

THOMAS — Idaho first lady Lori Otter visited the Snake River Community Library on Wednesday afternoon and read to children before she presented a check worth $5,000 to library staff.

Morning News - Richard Toynton
Children surround Idaho first lady Lori Otter on Wednesday afternoon at the Snake River Community Library. Otter presented library staff a $5,000 grant that library director Sherrilynn Bair applied for June 1. The money will go toward an extra session of Story Time, which encourages children to make a habit out of reading in and out of the library.

The check was one of 30 Read To Me mini-grants that have been earmarked for community libraries throughout Idaho, and Otter described the grants as very lean and very economical ways to teach a lot of children and get them into libraries.
The mini-grant was applied for by library director Sherrilynn Bair on June 1.
Idaho Library Association President Sandra Shropshire, SRCL Board chairman Wayne Taylor, Sen. Steve Bair, Rep. Dennis Lake, and Rep. Jim Marriott were present to congratulate Sherrilynn Bair and her constituents for her efforts.
Snake River School District Superintendent Russell Hammond and school board chairman Julie Van Orden also expressed their gratitude and support for Sherrilynn Bair.
“This is a good little library here,” Marriott, who lives three miles away from the library, said. “She’s done an excellent job on this multi-use library—the school and community can use it.”
After being introduced by teacher Peggy Hansen, Otter, a former teacher, read “The Very Hungry Caterpillar” written by Eric Carle to more than one dozen children.
“The Legislature did a great job and so did the constituents in the community who made this grant possible,” Otter said after reading to the children. “Idaho is ninth in the nation for library use.”
Hansen said the $5,000 will go toward materials and training that will enable her to provide an extra session of Story Time to students preparing to enter kindergarten.
Story Time is typically held at 10 a.m. and 1 p.m. on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays, but the fall schedule has not been finalized yet. Story Time will resume some time after the school year begins in the fall, and Hansen encourages people to call the library at 684-3063 or visit snakeriver.lili.org/ on the Web to find out more about Story Time.
Otter is the Summer Reading Program Ambassador, and she says she supports libraries for more reasons than just because they provide a lot of information for parents and children while creating great readers.
“I moved around a lot as a child and the first thing we’d do is go to a library in a new town,” Otter said. “I got to know a lot of kids and people in the community—I’ve spent a lot of time in libraries.”
Otter visited the Snake River library after visiting the Pocatello and Portneuf libraries.