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VIDEO: Care and Share Book Shoppe offers summer story time for kids
Dolores Bauman tells a story to children at Care & Share Book Shoppe on Route 113 in Hilltown. Staff photo by KEN ZEPP
Dolores Bauman spent years reading to children before she retired, and now she is at it again during a free story time at the Care and Share Book Shoppe each Wednesday at 10:30 a.m. through Aug. 31.
“Which would you like to accompany — Henry or his friend?” Bauman asked July 28 after reading “Henry Hikes to Fitchburg.” The children agreed that they would choose to travel with Henry David Thoreau on his 30-mile hike from Concord rather than taking the train with his friend.
Bauman began volunteering at the book store earlier this year, shelving items, working the cash register, and tackling “whatever needs to be done.” As the former director of a library in Illinois, Bauman is an example of how Care and Share seeks to optimize volunteer talent, Executive Director Sarah Bergin said.
“I feel like I can use my gifts in a good way,” Bauman said.
Story time at Care and Share poses a challenge that Bauman did not have in her days as a library director.
“It’s very different from what I did before because I knew what age child was going to be there.”
Care and Share’s story time is open to children under the age of 12, so Bauman comes armed with a variety of books chosen both from her own library and from the store’s shelves. The youngest children can turn the wheels and open the doors in a pop-up version of “Wheels on the Bus,” while those slightly older can appreciate the predicament of the salesman in “Caps For Sale.”
“I also tell a story with paper folding,” Bauman said. “That’s good for any age through adults.”
Care and Share volunteer Judi Quinto alternates weeks with Bauman as the story time lady. Quinto has gained experience as a storyteller while leading children’s Bible studies at Calvary Church of Souderton, Bergin said. Continued...
Books, which were formerly sold in the variety shop, are Care and Share’s most popular item, Bergin said, and the separate book shop opened last June.
“We’re always getting compliments on the store,” book shop manager Jessica Walter said. “People enjoy having a specific used-book store. Books are expensive!”
With weekly specials like 4 for $1 children’s books or 3 for $1 novels, however, reading is a little more affordable. Items marked with a certain color tag are half-price each week, and most items are half-price the third Friday of each month, according to the Care and Share website.
Along with fiction, nonfiction, cookbooks, history and theology books, the book shop offers movies, music and magazines.
“We get some awesome donations,” Walter said, adding that some shoppers buy a book and then donate it back to the shop after they are finished reading it.
Care and Share is working to expand the book shop with the help of a donation from Blooming Glen Mennonite Church to purchase 20 more book shelves, Bergin said.
“We have plenty of products,” Bergin said. “We just need folks to help us get it into the store.”
Whatever a volunteer’s skill level, Care and Share can find a task to meet their abilities, according to Bergin.
Arms full of “vacation reading,” Bergin said that she and her two daughters “read books like we eat candy.” Bergin hopes that story time will energize other young readers as well. Continued...
“Which would you like to accompany — Henry or his friend?” Bauman asked July 28 after reading “Henry Hikes to Fitchburg.” The children agreed that they would choose to travel with Henry David Thoreau on his 30-mile hike from Concord rather than taking the train with his friend.
Bauman began volunteering at the book store earlier this year, shelving items, working the cash register, and tackling “whatever needs to be done.” As the former director of a library in Illinois, Bauman is an example of how Care and Share seeks to optimize volunteer talent, Executive Director Sarah Bergin said.
“I feel like I can use my gifts in a good way,” Bauman said.
Story time at Care and Share poses a challenge that Bauman did not have in her days as a library director.
“It’s very different from what I did before because I knew what age child was going to be there.”
Care and Share’s story time is open to children under the age of 12, so Bauman comes armed with a variety of books chosen both from her own library and from the store’s shelves. The youngest children can turn the wheels and open the doors in a pop-up version of “Wheels on the Bus,” while those slightly older can appreciate the predicament of the salesman in “Caps For Sale.”
“I also tell a story with paper folding,” Bauman said. “That’s good for any age through adults.”
Care and Share volunteer Judi Quinto alternates weeks with Bauman as the story time lady. Quinto has gained experience as a storyteller while leading children’s Bible studies at Calvary Church of Souderton, Bergin said.
Care and Share began as one thrift shop in 1975, growing from 8,000 to more than 31,000 square feet over the years and opening separate shops for clothing and furniture. A variety shop offers toys, antiques and housewares, while the thrift outlet provides items at a discount price. Proceeds from thrift shop sales benefit the Mennonite Central Committee, a relief and development organization that serves in more than 50 countries, according to the Mennonite Central Committee website at www.mcc.org.
Books, which were formerly sold in the variety shop, are Care and Share’s most popular item, Bergin said, and the separate book shop opened last June.
“We’re always getting compliments on the store,” book shop manager Jessica Walter said. “People enjoy having a specific used-book store. Books are expensive!”
With weekly specials like 4 for $1 children’s books or 3 for $1 novels, however, reading is a little more affordable. Items marked with a certain color tag are half-price each week, and most items are half-price the third Friday of each month, according to the Care and Share website.
Along with fiction, nonfiction, cookbooks, history and theology books, the book shop offers movies, music and magazines.
“We get some awesome donations,” Walter said, adding that some shoppers buy a book and then donate it back to the shop after they are finished reading it.
Care and Share is working to expand the book shop with the help of a donation from Blooming Glen Mennonite Church to purchase 20 more book shelves, Bergin said.
“We have plenty of products,” Bergin said. “We just need folks to help us get it into the store.”
Whatever a volunteer’s skill level, Care and Share can find a task to meet their abilities, according to Bergin.
Arms full of “vacation reading,” Bergin said that she and her two daughters “read books like we eat candy.” Bergin hopes that story time will energize other young readers as well.
Care and Share is located at 783 Route 113 in Souderton. Store hours are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Thursday and Saturday, and 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Friday. For more information, visit www.careandshareshoppes.org.
