Volunteers read to children, teach values

A soft-spoken, older woman unleashes an impossibly warm smile that compliments her dark golden complexion and slate gray hair. Her smile is directed at the young children sprinkled across the rug in front of her. They're all craning their necks upward to see the illustrations from the book she's reading. \nThe woman is one of many volunteers who participated in the Read Out at the Monroe County Public Library in honor of Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. Volunteers included numerous groups of IU students: education majors, sororities and fraternities, athletes, volunteer organizations andmembers of the Bloomington community. \nThey all read books pertaining to values that should be universal -- empathy, understanding and acceptance of others and oneself. Regardless or race, religion or culture. Reading material ranged from Bill Cosby's "Treasure Hunt" to biographies of heroes from different cultures.\nSenior Alison Cooke, along with several other members of the women's IU softball team, came out to read a few of these stories. \n"We chose to volunteer for this event because Martin Luther King was a service-oriented man, so we thought we could honor him by giving service to our community," Cooke said.\nJenny Richie, one of the event's organizers, said the volunteers are diverse.\n"We like all our participants to take Martin Luther King Day as an opportunity to expand their horizons," she said.\nOne way organizers have chosen to expand people's horizons is by creating a Dream Chain. Each link reveals one person's idea or hope for the future. A table set up in the corner of the library lobby holds the essentials for creating such a chain. It was littered with strips of multicolored fluorescent paper and a box of markers, just waiting for passers-by to add their dream. \nA little boy with huge brown eyes, a gap in his teeth and an oversized jacket allowed his tongue to creep out of the corner of his mouth as he concentrated very hard on writing his dream in shaky block letters:\n"I dream to fly."\nWhile some children were hoping to write books when they grew up, there were some hoping to read during the Read Out instead of just listening.\nSusie Nentrup, the sports director at Girls, Inc., organized a trip for 10 girls to attend the event last year. They insisted on coming back again. \nSenior Morgan Wescliff said she thinks it's important for both children and adults to participate in this event because it promotes literacy and open-mindedness.\n"It's important to expose people to a wide variety of literature and for them to learn about Martin Luther King and his beliefs," Wescliff said. "Gaining a respect and understanding for others would mean a lot less problems in society"