Guerrilla Storytime at ALA Midwinter

The best program I went to during this conference, In regards to learning something that I can immediately apply had to have been the Guerrilla Storytime program hosted by Storytime Underground, a grassroots advocacy group to show the world that storytime is not just about reading books out loud; it’s about so much more!

This program was hosted in a room separated from the rest of the conference where only storytime librarians were allowed to cross the threshold, rather it was hosted in the networking up commons space in the direct path of almost all conference goers. While others were having networking meetings, eating late lunches, or doing a host of other things, a group of storytime librarians came together to share resources, provide feedback, tips and tricks, and to show the power of a storytime. We sang songs, learned sign language, learned new fingerplays, and gave and provided valuable advice that I’ll be using in my storytime on Tuesday.

It’s so refreshing when a group of like-minded, passionate, professional people come together to share information. It’s what I love so much about being a youth librarian. I’m so excited to take back all the things I learned during the short hour we were together. I’m tempted to try an guerrilla storytime at the next state conference and was so excited to put names and faces together as I met librarians whose blogs I follow online. If you’re interested at all I. This grassroots movement, check out their Facebook page, their blog, and blogs written by other storytime librarians sharing their tools to the wider community.