Josiah
Carpenter Library Lucky Recipient Of Girl Scout Gold Award
Submitted By
Beverly Pietlicki, Library Director
Six months ago, the Josiah Carpenter
library received a surprise visit from a local teenager asking
if the library would be interested in receiving a gift of the
product of her Girl Scout Gold Award project. When asked what
her project was about she humbly explained her ideas. She wanted
to put together different “bags of caring” for kids in the
community to learn the love of reading, like she remembered
doing when she was younger. She said she wanted to find books
around a similar topic and put them together in a bag with other
items to make the reading experience more interactive. How could
the library say “no?”
Last week Delaney John-Zensky called
to say that she was ready to deliver her bags. This gave us the
opportunity to find out more about Delaney’s experience. We
wanted to know more about her and her history with the Girl
Scouts.
Delaney has been with the Girl Scouts
since she was five years old. She started out like most girls as
a Daisy, went on to become a Brownie, and then, because of all
the opportunities that were offered, she graduated into Girl
Scouts. Since her time as a girl scout she has visited
Washington, D.C., a lighthouse on Cape Cod, and has worked on
contributing a play area at the Tilton Hill baseball field for
her Silver Award. Delaney loves to do projects and she loves to
read. When asked who her favorite author or book series was she
answered in the plural, “Harry Potter, Percy Jackson, Hunger
Games, John Green...”
The first bags Delaney has donated to the library include a Dr.
Seuss themed bag that includes five traditionally fun books with
a “make your own Dr. Seuss animal” activity. Three other
activity-themed bags are centered on dinosaurs, birds, and
visiting the doctor for kids. These bags are now cataloged and
available for parents to check out from the library so they can
begin interacting with their kids on these themes at home.
Parents can also come into the library and use the kits right in
the library with the help of a library staff person.
The library would like to thank Delaney John-Zensky for this
thoughtful and empowering gift to the library and Pittsfield
community, congratulate her on the completion of her award, and
wish her the very best in her future achievements with the Girl
Scouts of the Green and White Mountain Council.
