Denise Ladd helps children develop a love of reading
For over two decades, Denise Ladd has helped spark a love of reading in area children and their families.
Ladd has served as the children’s librarian at Sterling Public Library for 26 years now. The Sterling native didn’t always know she wanted to be a librarian; she went to college for a short period to study early education but soon realized she didn’t want to be a teacher. It was a twist of fate that led her to the library.
“I was in the right place, at the right time, and was able to get this job. I joke that I have the best of all worlds, I basically get to play with the kid’s books, the kid’s crafts, the kid’s toys and I deal with the kids for about 45 minutes at a time but I love them. And for the most part, the parents that bring kids into the library are trying to do the best they can for their children, so it’s a good atmosphere,” Ladd said.
The library has been the perfect fit for her because she is always meeting new children as older ones age out and younger ones start coming in. And now being there for two decades, she has been able to watch some of those children grow into adults and start bringing their own children to the library, which is a joy. She used to joke that when her first group of Story Time children brought their children in she would retire but for now, she has no plans to leave anytime soon.
“I joke with them that it’s job security, as long as they keep having kids, I’ll keep reading stories,” Ladd said.
Whether it’s Story Time sessions during the school year, the Summer Reading Program, or different holiday-themed activities Ladd always has something fun planned for the kids and her programs always entail much more than just reading. There are scientific experiments, creative art projects and silly dances.
“When I started here my kids were very young, so I kind of saw what they were doing and what they were interested in and that led me into things that I could do and it just keeps going,” she said.
It’s no surprise that for her the best part of the job is the children, particularly how receptive they are to learning.
“I love watching the little kids when they find their passion for books, I love when they fall in love with a story or a book or a character, that’s super fun,” Ladd said.
She also loves the people she works with.
“Over the years I’ve had a lot of great staff that I’ve worked with,” said Ladd, who was quick to point out that anytime she’s doing a program her co-workers are jumping in behind the scenes, putting books away and working the front desk for her. “We work as a group; I can’t do what I do without them.”
Overall, she just loves working with people and being able to help them.
“When you do some
thing good for them you see the response to it; I think a lot of times people are expecting negative and when you give somebody positive that reflects,” Ladd said.
It’s not just the kids she’s teaching though, she also helps parents discover how they can help their child learn to read thanks to Every Child Ready to Read, a program that gives libraries an opportunity to teach parents how to develop their kids to get ready to read before they ever start school.
“Explaining that to parents and seeing the light bulb go off when the parents are like, ‘hey, we can do this at home and it helps them get ready,’ it’s great,” Ladd said.
For Ladd, there is no more important skill for children to develop than a love for reading.
“Reading opens a whole new world, whether you’re reading fiction or non-fiction or whatever, to learn something or for complete entertainment, it’s a good thing,” she said.*