About

Eat. Sleep. Storytime. 

Storytime is one of my favorite responsibilities of my profession (Children’s Librarian at a public library in Illinois, USA.) There is nothing like that instant joy for stories and songs and laying the groundwork for the love of reading. I highly recommend the profession to anyone. If you love stories, why not share your passion with a child?

Each step taken before affects the direction of the steps to come.

My storytime sessions have been influenced by my experiences outside the Library field including those:

• in the vision field, improving vision skills and muscle strength children and adults
• in the special needs field, working with adults with various disabilities including Autism and Down Syndrome, that have skewed the individuals “developmental age.”
• as a storyteller

A bit of my storytime background experience:

• Baby (6-17 mos.)
• Toddler (18-35 mos.)
• Junior (3-5 years)
• Big Kids (K-2nd grade)
• Family (All Ages)
• Outreach storytime: local daycare centers and schools; crowds ranging from 20 to 100 kids at a time.
• Story and craft based program for kids in 4th-6th grade: Works best as a summer program held each month while the kids are out of school. Low attendance occurred during the school year.

I’ve done storytime with books, off book, with puppets and props, with projector and a laptop, as well as with a projector and an iPad. I’ve learned some things along the way. Mostly, if you are not having fun, neither will the kids.

This is an exciting time for a taking a look at traditional library storytimes. With Every Child Ready to Read (ECRR) study results available as well as cool technology available at lower costs, even more food is being added to the storytime table.

It takes a village.

The items featured/posted here will feature activities I have used during storytimes. It will not only be my work but also others. Their ideas/creations will not be posted without listing the original source, and I encourage you to “follow the breadcrumbs” to their original source.

There are also a lot of librarians and early childcare workers who are doing similar things as you and I. As you know, blogs, groups, pinterest, are a great way to see what other professionals are up to.