MOUNTLAKE TERRACE — Anthony Le is out the door before 7 a.m. every school day. Sleeping in on Saturdays is the typical teen habit, but not for this 15-year-old. Instead, he’s up early to volunteer at the Mountlake Terrace Library.
The Mountlake Terrace High School freshman is one of 38 volunteers being honored with President’s Volunteer Service Awards for their many hours contributed at Sno-Isle Libraries during 2015.
Le and Shaela Niles, an adult volunteer at the Oak Harbor Library, will be given gold-level medals at an event April 16 at the Sno-Isle Libraries Service Center in Marysville. The other volunteers will be recognized with silver- or bronze-level awards.
Niles gave a compelling speech at Sno-Isle’s TEDx event in Edmonds last November. She spoke about her struggle with anxiety and a condition known as selective mutism, which for years kept her from talking.
The President’s Volunteer Service Award recognizes kids, teens and adults who have achieved the required number of service hours over a year, or cumulative hours over a lifetime. It’s an initiative of the Corporation for National and Community Service, a federal agency founded in 1990 to inspire people to serve their communities.
“Our volunteers are extremely important,” said Mountlake Terrace Library manager Kristin Piepho. “They help us to really be able to focus more on our customers.”
Le helps at the library 9:15-11:30 a.m. every Saturday. His main job is finding and placing on a cart, in alphabetical order, all the books library customers put on hold. It takes him to every section of the library. He starts his day with a list of books, several pages long. Le also cleans computers and does other tasks.
“He is a great asset, a really good community member,” Piepho said.
“I’m surprised I’m getting a President’s Award. It’s incredible,” Le said Monday at the Mountlake Terrace Library. He explained how he came to the attention of librarians, who asked if he’d like to volunteer. “In eighth grade at Brier Terrace, I was here every single day doing homework,” Le said. Sometimes that meant from after school until library closing time. He used library computers when he didn’t have one available at home.
Le’s mother, Hong Huynh, said that sometimes he volunteered Saturdays and Sundays. The work has helped him learn responsibility, she said. She and her husband, Nghia Le, came to the United States from Vietnam more than 30 years ago.
Le, who plans to become an aerospace engineer, is in Mountlake Terrace High School’s STEM Magnet Program. It’s a rigorous course of studies that has him taking introduction to engineering along with other honors classes. As a member of the Technology Student Association, he recently competed at the group’s state conference in SeaTac.
Nancy Pursel, volunteer program coordinator for Sno-Isle Libraries, said this is the sixth year that the library system has participated as a certifying organization for the national awards. Winners contributed more than 5,400 hours at Sno-Isle branches last year, she said.
To qualify for the awards, there are different requirements depending on age. For children up to age 10, it’s 75 hours or more per year. For ages 11-15, it’s 100 hours or more. For those 16-25 it’s 250 hours or more annually, and for other adults the requirement is at least 500 hours. Those are for the gold-level prize.
“We have 650 volunteers throughout the library district at 21 community libraries,” Pursel said. “Last year, they gave us over 22,700 hours. We’re so honored to have these wonderful volunteers.”
At the reception, winners will receive their medals, a letter from President Barack Obama, a letter from Sno-Isle Libraries Executive Director Jonalyn Woolf-Ivory, and a certificate from the Volunteer Service Council.
Pursel said some honorees have won multiple awards. “They keep coming back year after year and giving us their time and their passion,” she said. Some teens need service hours for school, but then continue helping. “They find a place for themselves at the library,” she said.
Le likes working at the Mountlake Terrace Library with Kwami Nyamidie, the volunteer coordinator there. The teen says he’s gotten very quick at alphabetizing all those titles on the cart. And he loves books.
His favorites are the “Artemis Fowl” series, by Irish author Eoin Colfer. The science fiction fantasy novels feature a young criminal mastermind.
“I read constantly,” Le said.
Julie Muhlstein: 425-339-3460; jmuhlstein@heraldnet.com.
More Sno-Isle winners
Here are Sno-Isle Libraries’ winners of silver- and bronze-level President’s Volunteer Service Awards:
Silver: Molly Leung, Arlington Library; Bryan Beecken, Hedy Shiu, Lynnwood Library; Linda Patterson, Mountlake Terrace Library; Jeffrey DePue, Sno-Isle Service Center.
Bronze: Jacquelyn Meadows, Ryan Scheffer, Arlington Library; Helen Kinsella, Coupeville Library; Gail Lajo, Freeland Library; Julie Nord, Lake Stevens Library/Service Center; Bonnie Gerken, Suzie Gibson, Israel Maza, Jean Minsky, Rosie Severns, Tina Yang, Lynnwood Library; Patrick McGourty, Marysville Library; Trish Motyl-Hruby, Norbu Sangpo, Mill Creek Library; Elizabeth Coxen, Bonnie Drake, Michael Gantala, Monroe Library; Karen Bodnar, Mary Brown, Thomas Ghebreyesus, Justin Green, Linda McCann, Richard McGee, Mountlake Terrace Library; David Wachob, Mukilteo Library; Sharon Bilbro, Hayley Wedler, Lyric Crane, Snohomish Library; Mary Aquala, Frances Ball, Sno-Isle Service Center; Laura Lewis, Terry Wright, Stanwood Library.
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