Introducing Hiromi Kojima
Hiromi Kojima began volunteering in 2013. For almost five years, she has been a Reader to Children in Japanese as well as performing and telling stories. Japanese speaking families from San José and its satellite towns gather to listen to her tender voice and see her warm smile every Wednesday at West Valley Branch Library. She is very committed and punctual and has friendly and sincere personality.
Submitted by Librarian, Nina Petrova from the West Valley Branch Library
A Chat with Hiromi
As a child... I was shy at school, I loved to draw pictures, read books and was always busy with activities.
My first job... I had worked as a programmer and a system engineer after graduating from a college in Japan. At that time, we had only limited internet access to the world so that meant there were drastic changes in everything that I worked on concerning the internet. I was excited to work on it. After getting married, having kids, moving to USA, I stop working for a while, and now I am working part time as a teacher at the Japanese weekend school.
My fondest memory... occurred when I was a child. I grew up with younger brothers, and my parents both worked. My mom expected me to be the big sister. My two brothers and I played always went somewhere together. I still have a good relationship with them.
I am most proud of... my family.
My biggest challenge... I never finished reading a book in English.
My role model... is one of my aunts. She was always involved with people and the community.
My community... gives me the opportunity to be a story teller, and I love it. I learned how and had the experience from a lot of folk tales as well as meeting with Mrs.Fujita who is a famous folk teller. I want to share what I learned from her.
Libraries are... a good place to get a lot of books. I love to spend the time to get some essences of life, exploring new ways and thinking.
My favorite book, movie, or song is... Lord of the Rings since I was a college student. My whole family watches the movie during the holiday season every year. I love Jazz.
I volunteer because... I really enjoy storytelling to small children.
If I wasn't volunteering... I'd be thinking hosting activities for small children.
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