Naperville Public Library Honors Anderson Tien, KidsMatter Youth Service Award Winner

Last month when Anderson Tien’s name was called at the KidsMatter Youth Service award ceremony, he couldn’t come forward.  Instead, he was across town coordinating a National Honor Society event at .  This week the high school senior eagerly stepped up when his name was called at the Naperville Public Library’s Board meeting.  The board honored Tien for his six consecutive years and 116.5 hours of service to the Library. And Tien finally received his KidsMatter Service award.

Tien is a long time volunteer for the Library’s Summer Reading Program.  He never missed an orientation and volunteered for the entire eight weeks of the summer program for each of the six years. Anderson said he was drawn to volunteering at the Library because he truly believes in the importance of education. Life-long literacy is such a big part of education, and volunteering at the Library is just his way of trying to make an impact on the reading abilities of hundreds of children. Coming back every year and seeing a child try a new book, watching children become excited about the story they are reading, and ultimately, taking the knowledge they gain from reading and applying it to their everyday lives, Anderson sees as very rewarding.

Anderson also enjoyed the positive experience of working with different volunteer partners every year. He met individuals with similar passions and learned to adjust to working with different styles and techniques. 

At Naperville North High School, Anderson is taking six AP courses. He is the Illinois DECA State President and the Naperville North DECA Chapter President. DECA is for students interested in the business world. He is active in the National Honor Society; Student Government; and is on the Executive Board of the Scholastic Bowl, which is an academic team that competes with other schools much like playing Jeopardy.  His goal for the future is to be an entrepreneur.