'Books take me to the world'

Heather Runnels

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- Jose Leiva/Sun Journal

Photo Column, Photo by Jose Leiva, Story by Linda Leiva

Surrounded by books in the children’s department of the Auburn Public Library, Heather Runnels glows. Her eyes dance as she discusses her passion for her work and for books.

“Books take me to the world," says the library associate. "They inspire me. I love the rhythm and rhyme of picture books. The pictures make me want to be a better artist.”

Runnels shares this inspiration with children in a weekly story time for very young children, from newborn to age 3. Her program is called “Sprouts,” and she uses books, music, movement and traditional songs to “lay a foundation for literacy at its best,” she says.

Her joy is “to introduce children to new worlds … to go out beyond their boundaries.”

The memories of being read to by her mother solidify her passion for introducing children to books and reading at an early age.

“I enjoyed snuggling on my mother’s lap and reading," she says.

Now, as a parent, she reads to Adeline, her 6-year-old. She says she began when her daughter was an infant. “Watching her develop, she seems to know more than a child who has not been read to.”

The more children read, the more curious they are and the more they need to keep on feeding that hunger," Runnels says. "I see my daughter (reading) and a maturity comes over her face because she knows so much about the world.”

She underscores the need for reading to children to be a ritual. “It’s role-modeling. When a child sees you doing it and placing importance on the effort … sometimes dishes go undone so we can do it.”

She often observes children being read to in the library. “You can see the cogs in their brain (working). They become better communicators because reading gives them the tools to communicate, to understand their world.”

One of the most motivating times is when a parent comes into the children’s department of the library and asks for a book on a special topic, “an octopus or getting dressed, for example.” Runnels tells of being able to provide just the right book and “seeing the little dance (the child does) when they get the book. Even a 2-year-old knows what he wants.”