It’s been a while since Lethbridge Deputy Fire Chief Marc Rathwell read a children’s book. His oldest child is 28-years-old, his youngest is 20.
“We read technical manuals now about cars and things like that,” Rathwell said.
He and a handful of local firefighters accepted an invitation from the Lethbridge Library to participate in Family Literacy Day by reading to preschoolers.
Librarian Jenny Cofell says Family Literacy Day is a good way to get young kids interested in reading.
“It is so important,” she said. “If you can get kids excited and wanting to read at a young age, they have a firm foundation for when they go to school and for their whole life. It certainly serves them very well.”
Cofell says getting the firefighters involved is important because it’s an easy way to get kids interested in visiting the library.
Rathwell understands the children’s excitement about meeting them but says he and other firefighters who joined in the day of reading were certainly feeling butterflies in their stomachs before sitting down.
“It’s fun to see them step out of their comfort zone and do something like this,” he said. “It’s great.”
Nonetheless, Rathwell says getting involved like this is an unwritten rule in a firefighter’s job description.
“All the firefighters promote literacy and it’s a great program and we’re here to support our community at all times,” Rathwell said.
The Lethbridge Library says you can still participate in Family Literacy Day even if you’re not a young child or firefighter. All day, on January 27, they are asking residents to read for 15 minutes and then Facebook, tweet, email, phone, or go down to the library in person to tell staff about it. The library says its goal is to designated the city with the most readers per-capita in the Canada.