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ENLARGE
Judy Kulluson, longtime librarian at Eastwood Elementary School in Roseburg, finds matching kids and books ‘the magical part of this job.’
Vanessa Santillan’s friends call her a readaholic, so it was appropriate that she be the one to interview her school librarian.
Vanessa, a fifth-grader at Eastwood Elementary, asked Judy Kulluson a list of questions about her history at the school in honor of Eastwood’s 50th birthday.
Vanessa gleaned lots of facts as fifth-graders Katie Dannenhoffer, Emily Lozano and Kimi Pierce made sure the video camera was running.
Kulluson, who’s 54, told Vanessa she’s been the librarian at Eastwood for 18 years and has worked with more than 4,000 kids. She and her husband, Ken, have two children who both went to Eastwood. Kulluson started at the school as a volunteer. She lived down the street, and when her son was in preschool, she worked at the Douglas County Library. She offered to help out in the school library when her son, who is now 26, started first grade. She started taking night classes at Western Oregon University and began working at the school. She saw her daughter, who is now 21, spend all her elementary school years at Eastwood, as well.
Kulluson told the students about the early days of the school’s nature trail, students releasing wild turkeys and monarch butterflies, and the days before computers and telephones were in every room.
But the best place to find out about Kulluson may be from her students.
“She’s like the sweetest librarian I’ve ever known,” Katie said.
“She’s the only librarian I’ve ever known,” Kimi added.
“Me, too,” Katie said.
The lack of comparison doesn’t matter to the girls.
Emily said Kulluson comes up with fun ways to get the students reading, and Kimi said she’s good at entertaining the younger generation.
Vanessa, a fifth-grader at Eastwood Elementary, asked Judy Kulluson a list of questions about her history at the school in honor of Eastwood’s 50th birthday.
Vanessa gleaned lots of facts as fifth-graders Katie Dannenhoffer, Emily Lozano and Kimi Pierce made sure the video camera was running.
Kulluson, who’s 54, told Vanessa she’s been the librarian at Eastwood for 18 years and has worked with more than 4,000 kids. She and her husband, Ken, have two children who both went to Eastwood. Kulluson started at the school as a volunteer. She lived down the street, and when her son was in preschool, she worked at the Douglas County Library. She offered to help out in the school library when her son, who is now 26, started first grade. She started taking night classes at Western Oregon University and began working at the school. She saw her daughter, who is now 21, spend all her elementary school years at Eastwood, as well.
Kulluson told the students about the early days of the school’s nature trail, students releasing wild turkeys and monarch butterflies, and the days before computers and telephones were in every room.
But the best place to find out about Kulluson may be from her students.
“She’s like the sweetest librarian I’ve ever known,” Katie said.
“She’s the only librarian I’ve ever known,” Kimi added.
“Me, too,” Katie said.
The lack of comparison doesn’t matter to the girls.
Emily said Kulluson comes up with fun ways to get the students reading, and Kimi said she’s good at entertaining the younger generation.
The library shelves have tags that “belong” to students, and so do tubs of supplies. The students are responsible for them.
Every morning Kulluson broadcasts “Music in the Morning” over the school’s televisions. She shows students interesting Web sites and teaches them how to make video presentations.
Mostly, she encourages them to read.
She’s challenged them to “read around the world,” marking their progress in miles, which they earn by taking tests about the books they’ve read.
The students are most impressed by how Kulluson can pick out books they’ll like.
“Miss Kulluson can find and read our minds about what books we want,” Katie said, “and I think it’s really cool how she can suggest, and she’ll give us hints about the books we want to read.”
“I’m proud of the fact that I’ve still outread all of you people so that I have lots of ideas,” Kulluson told the girls. “That’s a big part of a job that you can’t replace with a computer. We spend a lot of time, us library people, reading books and matching them up to kids. That’s the magical part of this job.”
That’s no small task with a student like Vanessa. She’s at the place where Kulluson can hand her anything and she’ll read it.
What would Eastwood be like without Kulluson?
“Boring,” Vanessa said.
“I think the reading level for kids would be very, very low because she —” Emily said.
“Encourages us,” Vanessa filled in.
“I don’t think we would have as many books as now,” Katie said.
“I personally think she should get an award,” Emily said.
Kimi finished the thought: “For the best librarian in the world.”
• You can reach reporter Teresa Williams at 957-4230 or via e-mail at twilliams@newsreview.info.
Every morning Kulluson broadcasts “Music in the Morning” over the school’s televisions. She shows students interesting Web sites and teaches them how to make video presentations.
Mostly, she encourages them to read.
She’s challenged them to “read around the world,” marking their progress in miles, which they earn by taking tests about the books they’ve read.
The students are most impressed by how Kulluson can pick out books they’ll like.
“Miss Kulluson can find and read our minds about what books we want,” Katie said, “and I think it’s really cool how she can suggest, and she’ll give us hints about the books we want to read.”
“I’m proud of the fact that I’ve still outread all of you people so that I have lots of ideas,” Kulluson told the girls. “That’s a big part of a job that you can’t replace with a computer. We spend a lot of time, us library people, reading books and matching them up to kids. That’s the magical part of this job.”
That’s no small task with a student like Vanessa. She’s at the place where Kulluson can hand her anything and she’ll read it.
What would Eastwood be like without Kulluson?
“Boring,” Vanessa said.
“I think the reading level for kids would be very, very low because she —” Emily said.
“Encourages us,” Vanessa filled in.
“I don’t think we would have as many books as now,” Katie said.
“I personally think she should get an award,” Emily said.
Kimi finished the thought: “For the best librarian in the world.”
• You can reach reporter Teresa Williams at 957-4230 or via e-mail at twilliams@newsreview.info.
If you go ...
<b>WHAT:</b> Eastwood Elementary School’s 50th Birthday celebration; includes assembly, hula hoop contest, bubble blowing contest, car show, food and sock hop
<b>WHEN:</b> Noon to 3 p.m. and 6 to 8 p.m. Friday <b>WHERE:</b> 2550 S.E. Waldon Ave., Roseburg <b>INFORMATION:</b> 440-4180 |
