More than a book: Library storytimes engage youngsters beyond words
Dec. 10—Storytime at either the Weatherford Public Library or the Boyce Ditto Library in Mineral Wells are about more than books.
And that's on purpose.
"Part of Storytime — it has a lot of parts — is gathering kids so we can encourage social skills," Boyce Ditto Library Coordinator Casey Slaughter said. "We do a hello and goodbye song that incorporates hello and goodbye every week."
They also dance, learn a little American Sign Language and hone those glue-and-paper motor skills — all while unknowingly developing social interactive skills.
Slaughter nodded toward 2-year-old Ethan Arras across the room, where he and his mother, Cassandra Arras, were tracing a hand-turkey in honor of the sly bird in that morning's story who tried every disguise in the book to avoid becoming Christmas dinner.
"Ethan, when I first started doing Storytime, he was very shy and didn't want to come out of his shell," Slaughter said. "He is now singing and dancing and socializing with every child here. He's now leading the way."
Mom said she and Ethan come to just about every Wednesday Storytime.
"We are here because we want him to love to read," she said. "And we want him to have a big imagination."
Not far away, the next day, about 50 parents and kids were stretching their imaginations at the Weatherford Public Library Storytime.
Turning the final page on a story about a dinosaur versus Santa, Public Services Librarian Leah Flippin announced a song.
"We're going to try a new song, a winter song," she told the Thursday preschool group (toddlers meet on Tuesdays). "It's about cold weather, so we're going to sing the Mittens Song."
Before long, volunteer helpers had passed around shakers — mostly plastic eggshells with beans inside — and Flippin's students became the rhythm section to her song.
The librarian explained after class the goal of Storytime is to engage each child's mind and body.
"Teaching music, teaching movement, teaching rhythm and numbers and Spanish — those are all things we try to incorporate to help with that childhood development," she said, adding she strives " ...to be as animated as I possibly can be, so they can see my facial expressions and I can make it more exciting and active."
A side benefit arrives for parents, who get to socialize while watching their children learn, she said.
"Parents get a chance to see how their own child interacts, as well as some things they can do as activities (at home)," Flippin said. "It also gives moms and dads a chance to interact with each other. I've heard several people say, 'Good to meet you. Let's get together.' ... It's interactive for them as well."
Like the Arrases, Shelley Bumguardner and her 2-year-old daughter, Nelly Bumguardner, try to make every Storytime in Mineral Wells.
"She stays at home," the mother said. "So this gets her interaction with the other kids."
Nelly will be seeing some guest readers in the new year. Mineral Wells ISD Superintendent John Kuhn is first up.
"The idea is to get the whole community involved," Slaughter said. "Everybody kind of shut down after COVID, and it's getting the community together and socializing — and learning from each other as much as they are learning from us."
Storytime will remain a central plot to that story.
"It is more than just books," Slaughter said. "That's kind of the motto in our library, is it's more than just books."
It's the words that are in the books, and it's the revelation that words and deeds go hand-in-hand.
"We want to encourage activity, motion," Flippin said. "When I say, 'literacy,' it's not just reading books. It's enjoying the words."
