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.]

Serving Diverse Youth Infopeople Webinar

Webinars are a great way to get training, ideas, and professional development from wherever you are or at a time convenient to you if you use the archived version. This free Infopeople webinar Cultural Literacy Programs in Your Library: Connecting with Diverse Children and Families is no exception. You can register HERE.

Description:

Do you promote cultural literacy in your library? Would you like to learn more about planning programs and outreach services for diverse groups of children and their families?

This webinar will help libraries establish a foundation for understanding how cultural bias influences services to diverse patrons. We will also explore strategies and resources for program planning and outreach. Presenter Jamie Naidoo will discuss how libraries can promote services and get community buy-in from specific cultural groups. Additionally he will cover where to find resources for planning the best programs that celebrate cultural diversity and connect children and families from diverse cultural backgrounds.

At the end of this one-hour webinar, participants will be able to:

• Begin to examine their understanding of various cultural groups and identify personal cultural biases.
• Be able to describe how they can become culturally literate and promote cultural literacy in library programs.
• Become aware of some approaches to make their library welcoming to various cultural groups.
• Begin to identify necessary strategies for reaching diverse cultural populations of children and their families.
• Begin to identify strategies for planning programs that connect children and families from diverse cultural groups.

This webinar will be of interest to: Librarians and library support staff in public libraries who work with children.

For more information and to participate in the August 9 webinar, go to https://infopeople.org/civicrm/event/info?reset=1&id=591 .

Webinars are free of charge, you can pre-register by clicking on the Register Now button (at the top and bottom of this page). If registering with less than 30 MINUTES from the start of the webinar you can join directly from the thank you page by clicking the Join Now button. If you pre-registered you will receive an email with login link and a reminder email the day before the event.

If you are unable to attend the live event, you can access the archived version the day following the webinar.  Check our archive listing at:  http://infopeople.org/training/view/webinar/archived .