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Before summer vacation, it was decided that Aya would help with the city library’s storytime for children.
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N4
A practical N4 community story about volunteering at a library, changing plans because of rain, giving guidance, and seeing how quiet preparation supports an event.
Start reading · 1 of 25 · about 10 min total
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Before summer vacation, it was decided that Aya would help with the city library’s storytime for children.
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That event is held once every month, but this month the applications to participate were apparently more than usual.
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Ms. Sato, who works at the library, said, “Let’s split up the reception and the venue preparation and move ahead.”
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Thinking that arranging picture books seemed like a job she could do, Aya went to the venue early.
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First they arranged the small chairs in a semicircle and left space so that the people in the back could also see easily.
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Next they divided the newly arrived picture books by theme and arranged them neatly on top of the tables.
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Because there were also books whose content was hard to understand from only the title, they also placed short introduction cards together with them.
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Around the time it became one hour before the start, the sky suddenly turned dark, and the plan to read outside became difficult.
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Because Ms. Sato thought the rain might grow stronger, she decided right away, “Let’s change the venue to an inside room.”
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Changing the plan was difficult, but because everyone stayed calm, the preparation moved faster than Aya had thought.
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Aya rewrote the sign for the entrance and put a clear cover on it so that it would not get wet.
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Meanwhile, the other volunteers carried the stuffed animals and the read-aloud tools into the room for them.
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The picture book that seemed likely to be the most popular was one that could be read while imitating animal voices.
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During practice, Aya felt that speaking out in front of children was a little embarrassing.
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However, when Ms. Sato told her, “It’s fine if you read slowly,” her nervousness gradually grew smaller.
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When it became the start time, parents and children came one after another, and the room became livelier than she had expected.
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The small children sat in the front seats, and the parents who sat in the back listened while quietly nodding.
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When Aya began reading the first book, one boy said the next part first in the middle.
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Everyone laughed, but because of that the atmosphere in the room instead grew softer.
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After the second book, Ms. Sato asked short questions about the colors and animals that had appeared in the book.
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The children raised their hands high, and it seemed that there were still many things they wanted to say.
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After it ended, one mother said, “Even though the place changed because of rain, the guidance was easy to understand, so it really helped.”
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Hearing those words, Aya thought again that even preparation that does not stand out is important.
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By around the time they finished returning the books to the original shelves, the rain outside had also become quite light.
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On the way home, Aya decided that she would practice once more at home too, so that at the next storytime she could read more skillfully.