Growing up as a home school student, Elizabeth Rheaume remembers how she practically “lived at the library” and how she would come home with stacks of library books each week.

“Mom brought us at least once a week to check out books, and we maxed out our library cards,” she said.

Now a youth services coordinator with the Bob Kirby Branch of the Warren County Public Library, Rheaume is organizing summer sessions for home school students to learn how they can best use library resources.

The Bob Kirby Branch Library is hosting free classes from 2 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. on July 10, 17, 24 31. The classes will teach students about computers, library resources and public speaking skills.

Each session will build on the other, so it’s recommended not to miss one. Although Rheaume said space for class is fairly full, the library could expand the class or offer another one if enough parents are interested.

After an initial class in May, Rheaume said parents requested more classes.

“We like, when we find a need in the community, to try to fill it,” she said.

Laura Beth Fox-Ezell, the library’s education delivery services coordinator, is also a former home school student and a co-organizer of the classes. She said home school students make up a large community of local library patrons.

“This is our way of meeting them where they are as a specific community in our area,” she said.

The classes will cater to a group of children from kindergarten age up to 10 years old with parental supervision and a group of kids 11 years or older.

“I know that the parents saw an increased confidence in their kids’ ability to use computers and an increased confidence to speak in front of groups,” Fox-Ezell said of the previous course in May.

Should it prove to be a success, Fox-Ezell said the library is interested in offering similar programming in the future.

“So stay tuned,” she said.

– To register for the class contact Fox-Ezell or Rheaume by email at laurafox@warrenpl.org or elizabethr@ warrenpl.org or call 270-782-0252.