User:Penultimate supper/Library Storytime
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Library storytime is a form of educational programming offered by librarians at public or school libraries, for the purpose of developing emergent literacy skills in infants, toddlers, and preschoolers, as well as modeling for caregivers how to effectively support their young children's literacy development through engaging and interactive reading techniques. Similar activities, sometimes called "read-alouds", "story hour", or "circle time", are often utilized by early childhood educators in settings such as home visits, day care centers, preschools, and community based early childhood classes.
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Library storytime was introduced to public libraries in the early part of the 1900s, as public libraries were gradually transitioning from adult-only spaces to welcome children and families; by the 1940s storytime had become a mainstay of library services for children and families in North America and begun to spread around the world. A growing body of literature informed by library science researchers and professionals informs best practices and guided the development of standards. Storytime is often considered a key support for early literacy development, and many communities include it in their plans to increase the readiness of children for formal literacy education by the time they start school. Many variations on traditional storytime programs have become popular, including outdoor story strolls, sensory storytimes aimed at supporting autistic children and others with special sensory sensitivities, and programs facilitated by a diverse array of performers such as storytellers, pageant winners, police, and drag queens.
History
The history of library storytime—like many aspects of library services to youth—can be somewhat difficult to piece together before the 1940s, with many sources describing successful children's spaces and activities in libraries but providing much less detail on the practice and development of these aspects of librarianship than they do for adult and reference services. Christine A. Jenkins described the challenges of researching the history of youth services librarianship in 2000 survey of the available literature:
"In considering the historiography of youth services librarianship, one is struck by how often a call for further research in this area has been sounded and how limited the response to that call has been. [...] Like many other activities involving women and children, youth services librarianship has been simultaneously revered and ignored, and the origins and history of school and public library service to youth are only beginning to be seriously examined by library historians."[1]
In the 1800s, public libraries in North America were generally exclusively open to adults. During the 1870s, 80s, and 90s, prominent early members of the American Library Association, including William I. Fletcher and Caroline Hewins, voiced appeals to encourage libraries to extend borrowing privileges to teens and children. By 1900, a majority of public libraries had changed their policies to allow children to access library materials, and a growing number had build children's rooms and hired librarians to deliver specialized services to children.[2]
Children's librarians developed an array of methods to introduce children and parents to the growing body of children's literature, and to supplement the curriculum of public schools. Group methods of service delivery were identified as the most effective way to encourage "recreational and inspirational reading for children", such as book clubs and storytimes. By 1910, a decade of experimentation had lead to children's services being referred to as "the classic success of the public library"[3], and storytimes having become increasingly common in major metropolitan library systems.[4] Throughout the following two decades, children's library services continued to spread, and storytimes for preschoolers became a core aspect of public library service, seen in urban and rural settings. Storytimes were sometimes paired with separate, simultaneous, programs aimed at mothers.[5]