Lately, my job has included reading to 1st grade and Kindergarten classes. The TL uses that time to work on collection management, curriculum development, etc. I use the time to work on my classroom management skills and my read-aloud style. I like reading out loud. I don’t have a loud voice, but in a small group I can certainly project enough to be heard. In high school I was involved in drama and prize speaking, and I know the basics: read slowly, pause for emphasis, change volume and use different voices for different characters, if appropriate. A library, at its core, is about literature and literacy, and children almost all love being read to. It’s a lot of fun, and my “audiences” usually enjoy it when I read. But how can I improve my storytelling further?

I know that story time is important. For one, every public library I’ve ever encountered offers story time programming. It takes up close to half of the library/technology instruction at the schools where I work. I skimmed through the AASL’s Standards for the 21st Century Learner, and found several standards that would apply to story time learning: 1.1.6, for instance, 4.1.1-3, and 4.2.4. And maybe more! Next I did a search of academic journals, and really didn’t come up with much through LISS. “Storytelling” seems to be the appropriate search term, but there weren’t articles on technique that I thought there might be. I did find a recent article surveying children’s librarians in Sweden (Hedemark and Lindberg, 2017). In their survey, librarians stated that they do more than read a story out loud. They prepare by reading the story first, they engage with their audience by getting physically close to them, and they employ traits such as flexibility and humor. However, the authors and the survey participants also commented on a lack of research and academic language about storytelling and story time programs. This key component of librarianship is not as well understood as it could be!

Since scholarly research wasn’t proving fruitful, I fell back to a Google search. There are lots of ideas out there for story time themes, but again not so much on storytelling techniques. I did find one article in School Library Journal (Colburn, 2013), which had good tips for engaging parents and making participants feel welcome. The author’s final tip, however, was to “continue our education in storytime techniques” – through observation, not research.

One TL I work with is a very animated reader, and I have learned a lot from his style. I watch and learn about classroom management from TLs and classroom teachers. Perhaps my district would allow me to observe story times at other schools for professional development. Or even get some coaching from the drama club! As I learn, I will keep track of my observations. Stay tuned for future story time posts.

American Association of School Libraries. (2007). Standards for the 21st Century Learner [PDF file]. Chicago: American Library Association. Retrieved from http://www.ala.org/aasl/standards

An Unlikely Storytime. Digital image. An Unlikely Story Bookstore & Cafe. N.p., 2016. Web. 8 Apr. 2017. <http://www.anunlikelystory.com/event/unlikely-storytime&gt;.

Colburn, N. (8 August 2013). Secrets of Storytime: 10 Tips for Great Sessions from a 40-year Pro. Retrieved from http://www.slj.com/2013/08/literacy/secrets-of-storytime-10-tips-for-great-sessions-from-a-40-year-pro/#_

Hedemark, Å. a., & Lindberg, J. j. (2017). Stories of storytime: the discursive shaping of professional identity among Swedish children’s librarians. Information Research, 22(1), 1-12.