The Griffith City Library was packed full of students on Monday, eager to hear what renowned author Louise Park had to say.
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Ms Park was down at the Griffith City Library as part of Book Week, and will be staying all week.
She spoke to a range of students from around the area about her experience as a writer and how valuable reading can be.
She said it was important to get kids interested in reading from an early age.
“I think literacy is the key to everything in the community,” she said.
“If you can read it opens so many doors and if you struggle to read you can drop through the cracks really early and statistics show that that can really impact later in life.
“That's why a lot of my stuff in aimed at K-3, because it is such a critical stage and if they don't pick it up early they struggle.”
She said the students so far had already shown a great deal of interest.
“The session I just had was fabulous, the kids were really great,” she said.
“I think that reading can be incredibly fun and the secret of learning is that it's happening while you're not even aware of it.
“So while they're having fun they'll just keep turning the page and see what happens next.”
The library’s people and program team leader Karen Lowe was said she was excited to have the author come for the week.
“Naturally we're just really excited about kids and reading, and Louise is fantastic,” she said.
“She's written so much and for a variety of ages, so it's all about encouraging reading and literacy.
“All the kids came in and they were holding up their books and just looked so enthusiastic.”
She said it was great to see so many schools who wanted to take part in the week-long event.
“It's all about getting them excited about books and getting them into the library as well,” she said.
”It's wonderful to see schools like Coleambally Central have come and Barellan Central School are coming as well. Getting some of the rural kids that might not have those opportunities has been great.”
Ms Park will be running these discussions for the remainder of the week.