by Barbara Buckley
School buses will be rolling through the county soon as school begins. This is a sign there will be a shift in activity at our public libraries, too. Some kids have been attending weekly storytimes at the library since they were babies, and now they will be in kindergarten. This is a bittersweet time for storytime leaders who have read to a child week after week and must say goodbye as they head to school. But it is also exciting to see who the next batch of kids will be! New families will discover the value of a great storytime, which can be found at every library branch across the county–in Biglerville, Carroll Valley, East Berlin, Gettysburg, Littlestown, and New Oxford. Check adamslibrary.org/events to find a storytime that fits your schedule and is appropriate for the child’s age or developmental level.
What is a storytime? Storytimes revolve around reading books, encouraging the imagination, and teaching facts about the world. It isn’t necessarily quiet like you might expect. We also do a lot of singing and moving! Reading books can be interspersed with songs, rhymes, and playtime with scarves, a colorful parachute, shaky eggs, or even musical instruments.
New words are introduced incidentally through the telling of stories. Did you know a baby platypus can be called a puggle? This is a fun fact that came up at a recent storytime. But storytimes go far beyond vocabulary. Our storytime leaders watch as children learn to pay attention when a book is being read to the group. Children begin to predict what might happen next in the story. Some storytimes across the county also include an opportunity to make a craft or play with special toys following the storytime, helping to develop motor skills. Most importantly, children learn to enjoy books and the library creating the foundation for a lifetime of reading.
Friendships are made here too. Over and over, we see storytime families decide to meet up at the park or stay at the library to play together after storytime. As a former storytime attendee myself, I know that finding friendly fellow travelers along the path of parenthood, or grandparenthood, can make all the difference.
Storytimes hit all the marks. They help with social, emotional, cognitive, and even physical development. Best of all, they are fun. So, please, parents and grandparents, try storytime at the library! You won’t regret it.
Barbara Buckley is Western Regional Manager of the Adams County Library System.