We’ve been Offering It for Years, But Why Do They Come? The Reasons Why Adults Bring Young Children to Public Library Storytimes

Abstract

While storytime programs for preschool children are offered in nearly all public libraries in the United States, little is known about why adults choose to bring children to participate. This survey study gathered information from 346 parents and caregivers who attended storytime programs at 35 public libraries in three states. Parents and caregivers indicated child enjoyment of hearing stories and participating in activities and the opportunity for children to interact as the primary reasons for attending; however, differences in motivation to attend were noted by community density, relationship to the child, educational level of the adult, and length of attendance. In addition to identifying those aspects of storytimes that resonate most for children and building upon them, librarians should integrate cooperative activities that facilitate interaction. Further, librarians should take stock of their own contexts and modify programs to best address the needs of their specific community.

Analysis of topics in storytime books based on text mining: Preliminary findings

“…The findings also point to the educational value of storytimes: multiple components of early learning were observed, such as color, rhymes, alphabet, read, and count, suggesting storytime serves as a valuable resource for knowledge building. Moreover, the findings show both visual and sound modes of story delivery in storytimes as well as aspects of enjoyment that are important to parents and caregivers (Cahill, Joo, Howard, & Walker, in press). Additionally, this study explores emotional aspects of storytime books based on sentiment analysis.…”

Extratextual talk in public library storytime programs: A focus on questions

“…Indeed, in preschool classrooms, the rate of child talk during shared reading has been positively linked to their vocabulary learning (Hindman et al, 2019). This finding, therefore, also signals the promise of storytime as a contributor to and support for children's language development and learning (Hill et al, 2015)-a goal of both librarians who provide storytimes (Campana, 2018;Stagg Peterson et al, 2012) as well as the caregivers who bring children to them (Cahill et al, 2020b;de Vries, 2008;Stagg Peterson et al, 2012).…”

“…Storytime programs are a cornerstone of public library programing, valued by library administrators for attracting and fostering long-term library users and for being the most highly attended programs libraries offer (Cahill et al, 2020a; Miller et al, 2013). Caregivers, and the children under their care, choose to attend storytimes for both learning related as well as more socially based reasons including promoting a child-parent bond around books and reading, providing family entertainment and social interaction with other children and caregivers as well as offering a break from day-to-day routines and allowing caregivers and children an opportune excuse to get out of the house (Cahil et al, 2020b; Goulding and Crump, 2017; McKenzie and Stooke, 2012; Stagg Peterson et al, 2012).…”

Exploring Topics and Genres in Storytime Books: A Text Mining Approach

“…Frequent terms included "play," "love," "fun," "enjoy," and "dance." Based on attendees' expectations that storytimes are a place for entertainment (Khoir et al, 2017) and joyful experiences (Cahill et al, 2020), sharing these recommended books can be part of meeting attendees' expectations and accomplishing storytime objectives.…”

“…While parents and caregivers certainly value storytimes for the learning opportunities they afford, many view these programs as family entertainment venues (Khoir et al, 2017) and worthy experiences simply because of the joy they bring to children (Cahill et al, 2020). Most storytime programs offer opportunities for children and adults to interact, play, and sing (Celano & Neuman, 2001).…”