Julie Hodge can't wait for bubble time again. But Hodge, along with a host of other librarians from Wake County Public Libraries, have been hard at work during the pandemic to bring stories and lessons to little ones online. Through
Storytime Anytime and
other virtual programs, Hodge and her colleagues are focused on continuing the work they did before COVID — connecting kids to great books and preparing them for kindergarten and beyond.
I checked in with Hodge, a children's librarian at Northeast Regional Library, to learn more about their work. Here's a Q&A with Hodge, who lives in Garner with her husband and young daughter.
Go Ask Mom: How has your day-to-day work changed during COVID?
Julie Hodge: Of course, the pandemic has changed nearly every aspect of our jobs. We still do everything in our power to match kids with their perfect books, but now there are a lot fewer face-to-face interactions. New services like Custom Book Lists for Kids, Express Book Bags for Kids, and Book Bundles, have given us the opportunity to hand-pick books for our patrons without having in-person conversations. Personally, I still really miss our in-person programs where we could actually see kids excitedly talking about books they liked.
GAM: The library has started a Storytime Anytime series online. What all is available, how often are new storytimes posted and what are they like?
JH: These are so great! We have recorded storytimes available for babies, toddlers, preschoolers, and some for a broader range of kids called “Family Storytime." A new category we started offering is bilingual storytime for those who may speak Spanish or would just like more exposure to Spanish. In all of our recorded storytimes, you can find many of the same elements you would see in an in-person storytime. We read books, sing songs, dance, play with puppet friends, and do many other storytime activities. A new storytime drops every Saturday morning and you can stay up-to date by following WCPLOnline on Instagram and Facebook.
GAM: Was it difficult moving from in-person to the virtual format? What changes did you have to make?
JH: It was difficult in some ways. As far as storytimes are concerned, it is very odd doing the whole thing without an audience. Normally they’re the ones giving us encouragement. If they’re really enjoying dancing that day, we’ll do more of it. If they love a flannel board activity, we’ll do it a few times. But with the recorded storytimes, we just have to guess what our audience will enjoy. Luckily our feedback has been positive. What makes it the most difficult is just how much us, the librarians, and the kids miss that time together. It was like a big party every day. I can’t wait to have bubble time again.
GAM: You're not just reading stories, you're incorporating some early literacy lessons too to get kids ready for kindergarten. What's the goal with Wake County's storytimes?
JH: Our goal in storytime has always been to encourage and inspire the five skills of early childhood literacy in everyday life. Those skills are reading, writing, singing, talking, and playing. So many things we do in storytime are things parents probably do at home already, pointing out letters on a page, singing simple songs, counting toys, talking about things you see, and any number of simple activities. I like to think of us teaching these skills as almost a pat on the back for parents. We’re affirming that they’re doing a great job already and they can be confident their child is learning literacy at the exact right pace.
GAM: How can parents incorporate some of what you do during storytimes into the time they spend with their kids?
JH: We actually have a really fantastic resource when it comes to incorporating all the early literacy skills at home; it’s called Play Your Way to K and it’s available at all of our libraries. It’s basically a game board and inside you’ll find easy activities, broken down by which skill they teach or encourage. When you do an activity, you mark it off on your game and at various points along your way to “K” you can bring it to the library for fun prizes.
One of my personal favorites is an activity under the skill “talk” where you and your child pick up any objects close to you, hold it to your ear and pretend to have a phone conversation. Not only is it absolutely adorable to see my daughter carrying on a conversation in gibberish with a plastic tea cup, but it also teaches her the flow of a conversation: a greeting, a question, answers, and goodbyes. More great activities are under “write.” Before I knew much about these skills, I figured writing was far beyond the brain capacity of a one year old, but letter recognition and finger dexterity are essential skills involved in writing and they are things that can be taught at a young age. If you are on a walk with your child and see a sign with letters, simply point them out and (if safe) encourage your child to trace the letters with their finger. This is so simple and your child’s sponge of a brain is taking it all in.
Another way you can incorporate some of the skills we teach in storytime is to pick up one of our Storytime on the Go kits. These too are available at all of our libraries and each themed kit includes 2-3 picture books and a sheet of songs and activities to go along with them. Some of my favorite Storytime on the Go themes are pirates, unicorns, and space! All books provided in these kits are checked out like any other library book and are ones that we have deemed worthy of reading to an audience.
Go Ask Mom features local moms every Monday.
