MU Reads sponsored its second event of the semester Wednesday, focusing on teaching Marshall University students how to organize their classwork and scheduled events through journaling, as well as giving out a free starter journal to everyone who attended.

MU Reads, which has been operating for four and a half years, is built around bringing students with an interest in reading together, as well as creating an interest in reading for other students. They also have various events during the academic year.

“MU Reads’ goal is to promote literacy and reading in the community,” said Tera Henry, a staff librarian for Drinko Library and one of the co-managers of MU Reads. “But I like that it helps students connect with other readers. I get to interact with the students a lot, and I enjoy helping them.”

Leeann Hesson, a staff librarian for Drinko and the other co-manager of MU Reads, said she agrees.

“I like just getting together with people who enjoy reading,” Hesson said.

Both Henry and Hesson have been co-managing MU Reads for a year, and they said they are thinking about expanding MU Reads beyond their current standing, by getting a higher amount of participants in the program. While there has been an increase in participants in the year that Henry and Hesson have been leading the program, both said they would like to see even more growth.

“We try to promote all over campus,” Hesson said. “We want to make MU Reads community-wide, not just on campus.”

Hesson also said that in order to fit student schedules, most of the MU Reads programs are in the evening.

Henry and Hesson are also talking with local businesses and venues throughout Huntington to try and host MU Reads events in different locations. And this venture has been successful already: the same presentation shown Wednesday had also been shown the week prior at Mount West Community and Technical College.

“We want to do outreach at the veteran’s hospital also,” Henry said.

MU Reads also wants to contribute to the Golden Girl Group Home in Ceredo, an organization Drinko Library has donated to in the past.

But both Henry and Hesson said they are grateful for the growth of MU Reads.

“Everything seems to be going well,” Henry said. “We’re happy with how far it’s come in the year we’ve worked here.”

Sam Phillips can be contacted at [email protected].