Youth Services Shout-Out: YSS Blog: Community Fun: Flipgrid, Fanfare, and Friends: River Falls Celebrity Storytime

Today's guest post is from an intrepid trio from River Falls (WI) Public Library: Cole Zrostlik, Collaborative Consultant @ WRLS (formerly at the River Falls Public Library); Monica LaVold, Youth Services Librarian at the River Falls Public Library; and Johanna Barbey, 12½ -year-old. They share how they created a marvelous Celebrity Storytime

Right after the River Falls Public Library went into lock down, we started creating resource lists for our patrons. We wanted to help in the ways we knew how. Monica was live-streaming three storytimes a week, but we still needed to understand what our community members needed. We created and distributed an online survey and got a lot of responses (~300). People needed connection, they needed to feel like they were part of something outside of their homes, they needed a little fun.

With our endless energy and enthusiasm, we decided to try Flipgrid, a free web app, for community members to contribute to a collaborative online message board, River Falls Celebrity Storytime. Our very first celebrity was Mayor Dan, followed by some City and Library staff members; then River Falls-native and children’s book author Jaqueline West (author of the Elsewhere series) made a contribution! That was a great day. We got bold and invited more local celebrities-- we were super excited when special guest Senator Patty Schactner made a contribution, and almost lost it when we got Governor Tony Evers to read a story. (This didn’t happen by chance, by the way. We sent lots and lots of emails and really sold the idea to some really helpful PR folks.)

What is Flipgrid? It might be easier to show you than to tell you, but Flipgrid is an app (mobile or desktop) originally created for classroom use. A question or theme can be proposed by an educator/moderator and anyone can respond or create a post in video form. No account is needed to view videos, a Flipgrid site can be password protected (although we chose not to), and, to record a message or response, all is needed is a Microsoft or Gmail account. We like it because it’s more private than Facebook (which is helpful when you are considering publisher guidelines), but it’s easy enough for a second-grader to use (although it takes a little practice for some users-- admins can easily post videos on behalf of users too).

One of our biggest fans and Flipgrid supporters was Johanna Barbey, a 7th grader and potential future educator (although she could really do anything!). Here’s what Johanna had to say about Flipgrid:

I use Flipgrid because it’s a really fun and enjoyable way to communicate with other people and share a message. You could record a video of yourself reading a book! I LOVE to read a lot and I enjoy reading to others. It’s also been nice to see and hear other people during this pandemic.

For us, Flipgrid was awesome for Celebrity Storytime, but it could also be great for an anytime book club, a teen hangout space, or a virtual preschool playgroup. Maybe you have an idea for using Flipgrid this winter?

Check out the River Falls Celebrity Storytime Flipgrid here

Virtual Storytimes YSS blog COVID-19 series: