Each time Krystle Butler passed the Navarro Middle School
library last year, she knew something had to be done. The room was used as
storage, and Butler said she felt the Navarro MS community needed a dedicated
literacy and research space for its students.
“I thought it would be best if the kids could use it for studying, doing research and reading,” said Butler, who has worked at Navarro MS as a clerk for the past five years.
So, over the course of six months, Butler led the effort to clean out the room and transform it back in to a proper library space. With help from her campus and Library Services, she finished the project for the 2016-2017 school year.
“It’s important kids have a library on campus because many of them they don’t have transportation or access to a library,” said Butler, who took on the library project in addition to her normal job duties. “I want to keep leaning materials available to them because literacy is very important to me. When my niece is with me, we read for 45 minutes a day. I’m a very avid reader.”
In addition, Butler also volunteers as an assistant coach for the school’s cheerleading squad.
“A lot of the girls, knowing they’re a part of a group, it helps with their self-esteem,” Butler said. “That’s something they struggle with, and they want to feel like they fit in. And I think it really helps with their grades and conduct because they know if I don’t have good grades or good conduct, I don’t play.”
While she’s proud of her cheerleading group, the library project is the biggest source of pride for Butler because of how positively Navarro have responded.
“While I was still working on it, they would ask me, ‘Is the library ready yet?’ ” she said. “I didn’t think they would be that interested in it. It brings a tear to my eye that they were looking forward to it so much.”
