Ambient sound: story being read to children
DANA SHERIDAN: The Cotsen Library
is a wing of rare books and special collections.
And it's the benefaction of Lloyd Cotsen,
who was in the class of '50.
And it is over five centuries worth of books,
original artwork, documents, manuscripts, toys,
educational objects that are all related to childhood.
Rare Books is within Firestone library,
and the Cotsen Gallery is in Firestone as well.
When Mr. Cotsen donated his collection to the university,
he also said he wanted a public gallery
for children and outreach programming
for children that promote a love of literacy.
And the result here is Bookscape, the Bookscape
Gallery, which is open to the public.
And it is free of charge, as are all of our programs.
It's a community portal here at the university.
At night, he sleeps in his secret hiding place and has--
JOANI ETSKOVITZ: Kids just have this natural sense
of wonder about everything.
They want to learn, because they're
genuinely fascinated by it, because everything is magical.
And I think that when you give a kid a box of rhinestones,
or a box sparkles, and a little bit of inspiration--
a story or craft-- it just excites that sense of wonder.
And I hope that they carry that wonder
into the rest of their lives, as well as a love of reading
and creating.
RYAN BUDNICK: I've learned to never
be surprised by how incredible these kids are.
They'll astound you with how much they know,
and how quickly they'll learn, and what
they're willing to try.
MIRANDA MARRACCINI: It's great working with the kids.
Sometimes, they come back into the office and ask what we do.
And kids are always really interested to hear
about what it is we do in special collections libraries,
and to see the books behind glass,
and to know what they're for.
And they're just really eager to learn about it.
ANDREA IMMEL: One of the things that really gives us
continuing pleasure is the fact that sometimes scholars
who have had fellowships come back
later with their grandchildren or their children.
And sometimes, the students who work for us
become scholars who use the collection for their JPs,
their senior theses.
The synergy is really a pleasure.
And when I started in 1995, I never
would have predicted that we would
have had this kind of success in fostering what Mr. Cotsen hoped
would happen.
JARED CROOKS: As much as this is for the children,
at the same time, it's a space for the students as well,
like a little hideaway that says,
hey, remember this when you were a kid?
Remember when you thought big things,
and you dreamed crazy thoughts?
This is still on campus.
And so I feel like it's a part of the community,
just as it's a part of ourselves.
There is some part of us that's hidden,
and we see that it's more childlike,
and we can revert to that safe space.
And I think that this does for the Princeton
campus what that place in our heart does for ourselves.
RYAN BUDNICK: We're just hoping that they
leave with a better love for knowledge and desire
to seek out new knowledge.
And every once in awhile, we'll hear
from an alumni of Cotsen Critix, and they'll just talk
about whatever they're doing.
And it's really incredible to see that from this program,
they both are getting a lot and that they go on
to do incredible things.