Freeport, Maine, makes some people think of LLBean. As of yesterday, that town will forever make me think of Mast Landing School and its vibrant, bustling and enthusiastic third through fifth graders.
Librarian Julia Colvin organized my day, part of which was spent touring her library space. It is a two-story, sunshiney place with lots of nooks for curling up with a good book. Take this red couch, for example, where a group of Mast Landing students snuggled up with, um, well, you know …
The library felt like a community center to me. Students roamed in and out, returning books, checking out new ones, flipping through options in a comfy chair. Those at a loss for what to read need only look to the wall, where Mrs. Colvin had displayed the Maine Student Book Award nominees:
Another highlight of the day was my lunch with students. Let’s just say I would still be there answering questions today—and probably still would not have eaten my sandwich!—if these saavy kids had their way. Their questions were interesting and the intensity with which they examined my answers was delightful.
Thank you to all my new friends at Mast Landing School. I hope we will meet again soon!
Edited to add: Do you know which book won the Maine Student Book Award this year? The votes have been tallied and I got the scoop today. But as that announcement was part of today’s visits, you will have to wait until tomorrow to hear the news.
Edited even further to add: Okay, I’ll give you some hints: This year’s Maine Student Book Award winner is not trashy, but it is a bit wimpy …