Schoolboys help Geauga Public Library volunteer Herb Harris load books into the trunk of a waiting car Wednesday. Moments earlier, Harris and Richard Ziegler had delivered a fresh set of books for the students at Stoney Creek School in Middlefield Township as part of the library system's Amish Book Program.
Helping feed a voracious appetite for books
Plain Dealer - January 13, 2008
JOHN HORTON
Plain Dealer Reporter
MIDDLEFIELD TOWNSHIP - Beep! Richard Ziegler worked slowly yet efficiently, waving books under the red glow of the library's scanner. Beep! Beep! A month's work of reading for a local Amish school built into a stack.
A well-read copy of "Little House in tihe Big Woods" hit the check-out pile, followed by a worn "Better Baseball for Boys" and "Abe Lincoln Grows Up." Ziegler surveyed the next addition, "Mountain Top Mystery," and smiled. "They like mysteries," he said.
Volunteers such as Ziegler open the literary world to more than 1,300 Amish children everymonth, delivering crates of books to schoolhouses scattered around Geauga County's backroads. The Amish Book Program essentially serves as a rotating library shared by those rural schools. The project, coordinated by the Geauga Public Library, serves 32 Amish schools. Only a few don't participate.
"We appreciate what they do," said the Amish man who serves as the superintendent of the schools. (He asked that his name not be used in this story, a typical request within a culture where it's taboo to display pride in one's self.)
Money from a federal grant targeting young readers helped launch the program in the mid 1980s. It started small, with only a few schools. Geauga Library Director Deborah O'Connor still remembers dropping off that first batch of books.
Little faces popped into windows as the car pulled up, O'Connor said. Then fast-moving feet brought the children racing out of the school.
"The kids were so excited for the books," she said.
They still are.
Little is said by the students, who range up to eighth grade, but the volunteers who power the program say that they see the delight on the children's faces. "You can't believe the smiles," said Linda Wiggins, who drops off books at Stillwell Country School with her husband, John.
Once a month, each school receives four crates holding roughly 100 books. The volunteers take back crates left the previous month, which then flow to a different group of students. The program circulates more than 7,000 books, all checked out on library cards assigned to each school. The library uses a special collection of books either donated or dropped from the shelves at the regular branches and recycled. Coordinator Jane Attina goes through the titles to ensure they meshwitih Amish tastes and values. Volunteers often return with requests.
Favorites include Nancy Drew and Hardy Boys adventures, western stories such as those by Louis L'Amour, and tales of the Bobbsey Twins. Don't expect to find books with characters "smooching" or links to television, Attina said. "It can't be too 'Yankee,'" she said.
The Amish hold a well-earned reputation as voracious readers. Geauga's Bookmobile, which leads the state in circulation for a library on wheels, rolls predominantly through Amish areas. The Middlefield Library includes a horse-and-buggy area with hitching posts.
That admiration for the written word starts young, the schools superintendent said. When students finish the day's lessons, he said, there's little doubt how they'll spend remaining class time.
After all, another batch of books is only a month away.
(Right) Richard Ziegler, resident and ambassador at Hamlet Village in Chagrin Falls
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"Bird Man" Delivers for Hamlet residents
THE TIMES,
November 16, 2006
BY SUE REID
For the past three years, Chagrin Falls resident Roy Ritchie, maintenance worker and painter at Hamlet Village, has gladly accepted the title of "Bird Man."
With a grin, Mr. Ritchie described the origin of that nickname on a recent sunny afternoon sitting in Hamlet's Atrium.
"It all began when I noticed that many of the residents had run-down birdfeeders," said Mr. Ritchie, 50. "I decided to fill them for the ladies. I would hand them out when they would move in." Since that time, Mr. Ritchie, who also resides at Hamlet, has not only been responsible for setting up over 50 feeders for residents in the retirement community, but for putting smiles on their faces. He has been the recipient of such tokens of appreciation as thank-you notes and cookies, and regularly receives telephone calls concerning questions about the birds.
"People just live to wait for these birds," Hamlet's marketing director Jean Hood said.
"Some call me on the phone to say which birds come to the feeders." Mr. Ritchie said. "I get a lot of satisfaction from it. The ladies love it and it makes me feel good. When they see me, they're knocking on the windows, smiling and waving."
Mr. Ritchie constructs the birdfeeders by hand, and sets up the suet cages, purchasing all the equipment and materials himself. Some are wood, while others are of metal or plactic. He does all this work on his own time. "I have about 30 feeders now sitting in my apartment," he said. "There are pieces and parts all over the kitchen counter. I pay for all the hardware, catches, pulleys and ropes," Mr. Ritchie said. He even travels to a mill in Berlin Lakes to purchase all of the feed. "I try to use as big of feeders as I can, especially in the winter months," Mr. Ritchie said. When constructing a feeder for a resident, he said, he makes sure to put it in thie perfect spot. "I ask if they have a favorite chair and make sure it's a good spot for them," Mr. Ritchie said.
Resident Fran Lother said that Mr. Ritchie made it possible for her to have "beautiful, friendly birds to keep her company."
"They keep me entertained all day," resident Janet Binder said.
Pat Hanson even wrote a paper about Mr. Ritchie for a weekly writing class held at Hamlet. In it, she said Mr. Ritchie has made her life more enjoyable by introducing her to the birds of Hamlet. "My feeder hangs from the overhang, not more than a foot from my large window," Mrs. Hanson wrote. "It is so close that I can see the different feather patterns and colors and the different kinds of beaks, as well as the crowns and crests. So far, I have identified 16 species of birds."
Mr. Ritchie said that types of birds that come to the feeders include woodpeckers, chickadees, finches and bluebirds. A lover of the outdoors, he said that, while he is no "bird expert," he certainly knows what attracts them.
Someone once did research that said that people live longer watching birds than they do watching television," Mr. Ritchie said. He said the reason he enjoys giving of his time to the residents is because he has a great deal of respect for the elderly. "They're like family to me," Mr. Ritchie said. "They're all great."
