The literacy volunteer often assists adults as they complete forms or write brief health histories for themselves or their children. In the summer, our area hosts many migrant families, mostly pickers from Mexico and Florida here to harvest the cucumbers and tomatoes grown in our rich soil. Spanish-speaking volunteers are used by the library at the health department to ease the language barriers and aid in accurate communication. Books and songs in Spanish supplement the regular children's program. When crossing busy streets is a barrier to getting to the library in the summer, the library's Bookmobile sets up shop at several housing developments.
Kids come with their summer baby-sitter and choose materials to read and enjoy.
The local Head Start programs in the county have been very receptive to outreach programs by the library. Because Head Start requires regular parent programs, the library became a wonderful partner for planning programs which were informational to the parents and also provided a literacy activity for the family. One such program had a health provider talk about the importance of a good diet to keep a healthy heart. Families then made heart mobiles with little reminders written on each heart on how to keep your heart healthy. This program was held in February, when St. Valentine's Day is celebrated.