Library Week Outreach: A Joyful Visit to Temwen Elementary School

Library Week Outreach: Day 2

For Day 2, the team from Pohnpei Public Library made a heartwarming outreach visit to Temwen Elementary School on the morning of April 23rd. Arriving at 10:30 AM, our small but passionate team — Emyleen Albert (Assistant Librarian), Erika Billen (Library Technician), and Andrew Trigg (Australian Volunteer) — was welcomed with bright smiles and eager faces. Before anything else we always start with a prayer to lead the day. 

The event brought together vibrant little students, ranging from 1st to 4th grade, for a short assembly program focused on the power and joy of reading. As part of the program, we were honored to have Mr. Jerome Silbanuz, a P.E Specialist from the Department of Education, join us as a guest speaker.

Mr. Silbanuz shared a lively and heartfelt story with the students — one that beautifully connected the worlds of sports and reading. Through his story, he emphasized how reading can strengthen not only the mind but also the spirit, inspiring students to be both active and thoughtful learners. His message was simple but powerful: books can take us places no matter where we start from.

The students listened with curiosity and excitement, their eyes lighting up with every twist and turn of the story. It was a beautiful moment to see how storytelling can bring a whole room together — even the youngest listeners were captivated. 

We followed it with a small dancing game where we then asked two challenge questions that rewarded two students with special prizes incluing a backpack filled with school supplies along with a packet of marbles, clay, crayons, notebook, coloring book, ruler, pencils, balloon, glue, and bubble blowing toy. For us, everyone is a winner and everyone got to walk away with gift bags containing the same items except for the marbles and clay sets.

To close the program, the school's principal Elcit Joseph offered warm words of appreciation. They expressed gratitude for being included in this year’s Library Week outreach activities and thanked the library team for taking the time to connect with their students. To show their appreciation, the school provided plates of local food and goodies for the road.

After saying our goodbyes and receiving heartfelt thanks, we headed back to the Pohnpei Public Library — re-energized by the experience and excited for our next destination: Parem Island.

We closed by explaining the assistance that we gain from IMLS and how need to raise awareness of its crucial impact in our library community.

Moments like these remind us why outreach matters. Thank you, Temwen Elementary, for having us — and for reminding us that the love of learning truly starts young.

Stay tuned for more updates as we continue our journey!