Weekly Book Club Brings Joy to Langley Residents

WEEKLY BOOK CLUB BRINGS

JOY TO LANGLEY RESIDENTS

By Elizabeth Petrun Sayers

On Tuesday evenings, Junior League of Washington (JLW) volunteers host a weekly book club with Langley Residential Support Services (Langley) residents. Langley is a nonprofit organization that serves adults with developmental disabilities, their families, and local communities by providing quality housing and support services. JLW and Langley have a long-standing relationship, established in 1988, when the League helped fund a new group home. Throughout the life of this partnership, JLW volunteers have initiated new activities with Langley residents, including formation of a book club.

“The Langley adults are the best part of this committee,” stated JLW Langley Chair Emily Jordan.

Meeting weekly, JLW volunteers establish friendships with Langley residents. Vice Chair, Kara Massey, enjoys watching the Langley adults develop their reading and social abilities throughout the League year. As she puts it, “we share what’s going on in our lives each week. So you learn about them, and eventually, you find a lot of connections. For example, one of the adults was a military kid; I was, too.”

Each week, JLW volunteers focus on improving reading, technical skills, promoting self-confidence, and providing opportunities for social interaction. This year, the book club is kicking off with Judy Blume’s Freckle Juice, which follows a

Committee members Christina Harrison, Jina Choi, Emily Jordan, Kara Massey, Kristyn King, Lollie Corrigan, Hallye Smith, Christine Becer, Emily Almand, and Sarah Juckett kick off book club in fall 2019. young boy who desperately wants freckles. dialogue about what they enjoyed the most Jordan shared other favorite books, which about each book, what they think will haphave included biographies of famous figpen next, and how the story may or may ures, such as President Abraham Lincoln. not relate to their everyday experiences. Jordan typically selects the books for the Over time, these book club sessions have club based on experience and Langley made a big impact on Langley residents. adults’ preferences. She looks for books For example, Langley attendees look that will be accessible to several different forward to the weekly gatherings to catch reading levels and, most importantly, will up with other residents who live in different be enjoyable for attendees. group homes. After the summer break,

JLW volunteers are responsible for several Langley adults were eager to update planning each book club’s agenda. For the group about changes in their lives while example, committee members create discusthe book club was on a hiatus. The Langley sion questions and activities to ensure the book club fosters a love for stories and meetings are efficient and productive. The reading, while also evolving to provide a meetings must accommodate a variety of platform for sharing so much more. literacy levels, ranging from those who need The number of JLW volunteers at Langassistance while reading to others who read ley may be small, but their impact is not. at third-grade level. JLW volunteers are able Simply looking around the meeting room to cater to different proficiencies by convenat the smiles, laughter, and conversation ing small-group discussions. Gathered during the Langley book club hint at the around tables, Langley adults participate in importance of their work. •