Storytime is essential

Photo by Alejandro Barba on Unsplash

"Storytime is essential." This quote from an article in The Horn Book  caught my eye recently as I was flipping through the magazine. When we're in the weekly grind of storytime, it's easy to forget that. It's easy to get stuck in the monotonous routine of  nursery rhymes, movement activities, picture books, and puppets. Every once in a while it's nice to be reminded of how important what we do is to the community we serve. 

I want to share a story with you about a time I was sweetly reminded of what we are truly doing when we serve the families we serve. There was a young girl, we'll call her Ann. Ann came to storytime every week, and never spoke a word. Her mother told me that she didn't speak any English, so they came to storytime to help her learn, and to have her be around other kids. For months they came and Ann would smile and bop along to music, but still didn't speak. One day about three months after they started coming, we were ending storytime with bubbles (as we always do) and Ann yelled out as loud as her little lungs would allow, "BUBBLES!" It was the highlight of my year. It was the first English word I heard her speak, and from there she just kept talking. 

Her family moved recently, but her mom wrote a card to the youth librarians before she went she left a card saying, "You are literally her first teacher and through your storytimes she learned a lot. Now she can read and always loves bubbles, thanks to you." What an incredible reminder of the impact we as librarians have on the kids in our libraries. 

Do you have a story to share about a time when you felt the love? A compliment someone gave you, or a time that you could see the difference you were making? Let's end 2025 sharing some of that love with each other!

[Storytime Hits. Peterson, Hannah. The Horn Book. January/February 2026.]