In a collaborative effort, librarians at Parkway Elementary School and the Plainview-Old Bethpage Public Library initiated a program earlier this spring to encourage student use of the public library and its many resources.

Students at Parkway School were asked to take pictures of themselves with their library card. The pictures would then be pasted on a wall for everyone to see. According to Nancy Cammarano, Parkway School librarian, the response was incredible. Students posed with their pets, in their team uniforms, and one student even took her library card to Disney World.

The hope of the librarians was to make the students comfortable in the library setting and according to Rhoda Orenstein, director at the Plainview-Old Bethpage Library, getting a library card is the first step. For students who already had a card, the project was a chance to rediscover it. And for those students who did not have a card, arrangements were made to get them one.

"If you start them very young it becomes a part of their life and they will like to come here," said Orenstein. "It is so important for children to have their own library cards. It is something of their own. Their name is on it, and they can take out books that they selected. It becomes a "my" library, "my" book type of thing."

"I think so many people have grown up with the stereotypes of librarians hounding you for lost books and that it is kind of a fearful place to go to," said Cammarano. "I really want them to look at the librarian as a friend, as a person they can approach and know that they will not be turned away."

The prime reason for wanting to make the public library a more familiar place for the students is because of the vast amount of resources and information it offers. The school and the public library have long worked in conjunction to providing services for the district's young students. According to Cammarano, "there is a lot of interaction between the public library and the elementary school."

She further stated that the librarians at the public library are kept abreast of student projects throughout the year so that they can be better prepared to help the students as they come.

"We try very hard to have cooperation between the library and the schools, because we are an extension of the education system," said Orenstein. "Schools close at 3:30 p.m. during the week and are closed on weekends, where we we are open to 9 p.m. and open Saturday and Sunday. So we really feel like we are an extension."

For young students, the public library offers craft programs, storytime-hours, special programs for children, reading contests, a summer reading club, children's performances, and computers and games. A listing of the library's various programs appears in the bi-monthly newsletter, Library World.

Ronelle Hershkowitz, principal, Parkway Elementary School, stated that the connection between the school and the public library should be an integral part of any student's development.

"Years ago, libraries were very intimidating and now they are no longer that way because there is a tie between the school and the community library, said Hershkowitz. "Between the librarians at school and the librarians at the public library there are many ways in which they address curriculum together."