Today, ECBC closed the chapter on its inpatient literacy programming at CHOC Children’s Hospital, with two of our loyal retired educator volunteers completing the last of 1124 volunteer shifts and tens of thousands of books gifted on the inpatient side of the hospital over the past decade. Per ECBC’s usual routine, today’s volunteers started with the mobile gifting cart, giving away a bunch of terrific books to kids in isolation who are stuck in their rooms, followed by visiting non-isolation patient rooms with ECBC’s Read-Aloud Wagons and offering Halloween-themed storytime at patients’ bedside.
At the end of the shift, as bedside reading supplies were being cleared out of the storage cabinets, a mom and her teenage oncology patient daughter entered the room, asking how they can get a book and what days the book cart visits patient rooms. As I explained that this was ECBC’s last day of this program, it was tough to get their disappointed response– the teen loved books, “especially comic style”. I offered her to pick some books from the cart to keep, and she excitedly chose two graphic novels written for teens/young adults…she was grateful and left the room smiling. This program is difficult to say goodbye to because I so deeply know (from first-hand experience and scientifically) how valuable high-quality interactive read-alouds and high-quality literature is for patients, especially those stuck in the hospital with long-term stays. One of my very greatest joys is sharing quality and compelling books with kids, especially kiddos who wouldn’t otherwise have access to them. I will certainly miss being able to do this.
And tomorrow, we turn to ECBC’s BOO-ks for Treats at CHOC’s Halloween event — our very last ECBC event.