Loaning smiles to kids
Librarian happy to give time
TOOWOOMBA resident Sue Crocombe has been a dedicated Children’s Hospital Foundation volunteer for nine years, volunteering more than 1000 hours of her time.
Ms Crocombe has been a qualified librarian for 34 years and now manages the Children’s Hospital Foundation Scholastic Book Bunker service – an in-hospital library with more than 10,000 books to choose from.
After her work hours dropped off, Sue wanted to use her skills to give back and so her volunteering journey began.
“I’ve been volunteering for the Book Bunker service since it was established in 2009,” she said.
“I was living in Brisbane at the time, but moved back to Toowoomba for my husband’s job. I have since retired but I wanted to continue helping out, so now I drive down once a week.”
Every Friday morning Ms Crocombe makes the one hour and 45 minute journey to the hospital to be the unsung hero of the Book Bunker, spending her time cataloguing books and sorting out the administrative side of things.
“It’s nice to be able to keep in touch with my profession. I love children’s literature very much, so I really enjoy seeing the new releases that come in, as well as staying on top of what’s going on in the industry.”
Ms Crocombe also loves to use books to help distract kids waiting for appointments by reading to them or handing out some books.
“I just love the children’s passion for books – you can tell that reading is very therapeutic for a lot of them. I love reading to kids and showing them something new that really reflects their interests. I especially love reading fairy books to little girls… And boys. Fairy tales would have to be my favourite genre,” she said.
Next week will be the start to National Volunteer Week, an annual celebration that acknowledges the contribution of volunteers.
Ms Crocombe, alongside the dedicated team at Book Bunker, have loaned more than 10,900 books to children and their siblings at Lady Cilento Children’s Hospital.