PRINCETON – The Thomas Prince School library reopened Monday, Oct. 17.
That news may not be high on the list of world events, but it was very important to the students here and in the eyes of Principal Alfred “Ace” Thompson, himself the son of a librarian.
The school had gone without its library since 2020.
“The library was a gym,” explained Thompson.
During COVID, the school’s gymnasium became a cafeteria to accommodate social distancing. The library’s book stacks were pushed back against the walls, the central space was cleared, and gym time took place there.
Leftover from that time, a koosh ball is still perched in one of the library’s hanging lights.
On a recent Wednesday, a class of second-graders was seated on the corner reading rug, raptly listening to parent volunteer Aimee Kindorf read a story.
Kindorfisoneofagroup of about 20 volunteers, led by Jessie Trowbridge, who made the transition from gym to library happen. Trowbridge is a TPS parent as well as the children’s librarian at the Princeton Public Library. She sees a bright future for the library.
“We want there to be a strong connection between the school and the town,” Trowbridge explained.
She noted that Sara Gardner, former town librarian and volunteer, is an important part of that connection.
“Her help has been invaluable,” Trowbridge said.
As for the project itself, it took some time and some elbow grease.
“This was like a time warp,” she said. “There were still St. Patrick’s Day decorations up (from March 2020) when we started the project.”
Those decorations are gone now, replaced by balloons to mark the reopening.
Trowbridge and Thompson both noted the book collection has been gone through, with removal of books no longer deemed appropriate or accurate.
“It hadn’t been reviewed for a long while,” Thompson noted.
“There’s a lot of new beginnings this year,” he said. He himself is new to the school, though not to the principal role, having served as Boylston Elementary’s principal for a number of years.
He was quick to point out that reading, and reading outside the classroom, is an integral part of learning.
“There’s a high correlations between (having school) libraries and (higher) MCAS reading scores,” Thompson said.
Besides, he said, the kids are enthralled by the library. “These second-graders have never seen a school library before,” he said. “You should have seen their faces the first day. So many smiles, and they were so excited they could take books home.”
