[October 20, 2009] On Thursday, October 8, OLIS participated in Jumpstart’s Read for the Record by reading Eric Carle’s classic, The Very Hungry Caterpillar, with 25 children from Growing Children of Providence, a day care center located in the Department of Administration. The story was read to the children in three languages, using three editions of the book.

The readers were Cheryl Space, Youth Services Coordinator, Howard Boksenbaum, Chief Library Officer, and Neshmayda Calderon, Information Services Technician. Howard read the book in Yiddish, Neshmayda read in Spanish, and Cheryl read in English. The children responded to the word “hungry” in each of the languages being used.

As part of a national effort, OLIS helped Jumpstart reach more than one million children, breaking the Read for the Record world record again. The Read for the Record objective is raise awareness for America’s early literacy crisis.

Chief Library Officer Howard Boksenbaum reads The Hungry Caterpillar in Yiddish while Information Services Technician Neshmayda Calderon counters with the Spanish version. Top: OLIS Youth Services Coordinator Cheryl Space reads the original version in English.