Former librarian’s request brings large book donation to elementary school

One former librarian’s legacy will live on in print.

Lavern Tomchak passed away in May. Instead of flowers, she asked for cash donations to buy books for the Roberts Elementary School library, where she was the librarian for many years.

“Lavern was a force,” Teresa Codling, Principal of Roberts Elementary School, said. “And she absolutely loved to read and she loved reading. She’d read with the kids, she’d talk to the kids about the books when they’d come in and try to encourage a love for reading in them.”

Through $2,600 in donations in Lavern’s name, the school was able to buy 120 books for the library. Something that will be beneficial for the students.

“Our kids don’t have a lot of books at home,” Codling said. “They don’t have access to that. So for them to come to school everyday and to be able to get their hands on current, good literature, is very important because for a lot of kids that’s the access they have to the outside world.”

Even though she’s gone, the students at the school will benefit from Lavern for years to come.

“Not only the kids that she knew here, but the ones that will be coming for years to come,” Codling said. “That would mean the world to her.”

The money also bought books in Spanish for the school’s Spanish Immersion program.