1016: Thrilling Tales - Adult Storytime at Your Library!

The most inspirational talk I attended I was “Thrilling Tales: Adult Storytime at Your Library”. The speaker was David Wright, Readers Services Librarian at Seattle Public library. David has been hosting a successful story time for adults, where he reads a few short stories at every session during lunch time. The atmosphere is relaxed and participants are allowed to eat their lunch, knit, or perform other quiet activities as they listen. Though his stories were focused on the mystery/suspense/horror genres, he offered many suggestions on how to start your own type of storytime for adults, including an ESL version. I was surprised by the large success of his storytimes; he regularly gets anywhere from 30-80 participants. In his talk David discussed the importance of the spoken word across cultures and also ages. Many adults certainly enjoy listening to stories on CD, so listening to a story being read aloud seems natural. The talk opened my eyes to the potential for similar programs at MPL. For instance, as a member of the Inclusive Services committee, I hope to try out an ESL storytime for adults, where participants can follow along as the story is read aloud, followed by a discussion that will help English language learners with the intricacies of the language as well as pronunciation. Such a program could also be aimed at certain cultures, offered in different languages, or for those with vision problems.

Storytimes can also be useful tools to assist with readers’ advisory. For instance, in my Tea and Books program at Angus Glen, I find the participants really enjoy hearing passages read from the recommended books. Instead of just providing a description, reading a passage aloud gives them a sense of the writing and pace of the book. A storytime for adults can be a good way to promote collections. Being a library, our main goal should be to support literacy across all ages. I was really inspired by this lecture and hope to bring more literacy programs to adults at MPL.