BOWLING GREEN - An idea that Wood County Common Pleas Judge Alan Mayberry has been kicking around for a while played out yesterday in his courtroom when he sentenced a young mother.
He ordered the Perrysburg Township woman to perform 200 hours of community service, but he went a little further, telling her she must spend 200 hours at the local library reading to her children or listening to them read to her.
"It seemed like it may be better than picking up litter - not that there's anything wrong with picking up litter, but this might have more long-lasting results," he said.
Judge Mayberry said his wife is an elementary school teacher who is often frustrated by the number of parents who do not take the time to read to their children or listen to their kids read. That got him thinking of the parents he hears saying they want to spend more time with their children.
He ran his community service idea past the adult probation department and Elaine Paulette, director of the Wood County District Public Library, who agreed to have her staff help defendants select age-appropriate books and verify the hours spent at the library for the probation department.
"It's a fabulous idea in terms of the parent learning what the library has to offer, parenting resources, the importance of reading to the child, an opportunity for the child to spend quality time reading with the parent," Ms. Paulette said. "I think it's a positive situation all the way around."She said research shows people who use libraries were typically brought to the library as a child.
"That connection made at an early age pays big dividends in their lifetime, so I think this has tremendous potential for both the parent and child," she said.
Judge Mayberry said he intends to order reading as a community service when the situation calls for it.
In yesterday's case, the woman had been convicted of obstructing justice for trying to hide someone else's cocaine before police arrived at her home with a search warrant.
"She's got kids that are 4 and 6," he said. "I knew they'd been exposed to drug trafficking in and around the house, and I thought it would be a good opportunity to expose the kids to some other things that are out there in the world through reading. I think it also helps emphasize to Mom how important the kids are, so maybe she'll think twice before she's in a situation like that."
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