The pandemic brought us a lot of challenges, one of them being the elimination of in-person storytimes at the Palo Alto City Library. Fortunately, we were able to slowly bring this program back to a couple of our libraries this year, but we are looking forward to amping it up even further in 2023! Read below to find our storytime schedule for 2023, as well as resources to help you continue your learning at home.
Types of Storytimes
In order to get the most out of your storytime experience, it's important to consider which storytimes you should attend. While most are welcome at any one of our storytimes, we do design them specifically for certain groups. Currently at Palo Alto City Library, we offer 4 types of storytimes.
Little Ones is geared towards children under 2 and their caregivers. We do lots of songs and rhymes and we read one story.
Family Storytime is for children of all ages and their caregivers. We still do some songs and rhymes, but we will read more stories together.
Bilingual Storytime is for all ages and will be presented in two languages, English and either Mandarin or Spanish. This is great for families who speak both languages already or for families wanting to learn another language.
Sensory Storytime is for children who are neurodivergent. This is the only storytime where we require registration in advance. This storytime is specifically designed for children with autism and other sensory processing challenges.
Storytimes in 2023
We are happy to announce that we will be hosting FOUR (!) weekly storytimes, as well as a couple quarterly ones.
This schedule will begin on Tuesday, January 17th.
Tuesdays at 11:00 at Children's Library: Family Storytime with Miss Devon
Wednesdays at 10:30 at Children's Library: Little Ones Storytime with Miss Alicia
Fridays at 11:00 at Downtown Library: Family Storytime with Miss Devon
Saturdays at 11:00 at Mitchell Park Library: Family Storytime with Miss Alicia
Quarterly at Mitchell Park Library: Bilingual Storytime with Miss Elise and Miss Dan
Quarterly at Mitchell Park Library: Sensory Storytime with Miss Elise or Miss Alicia
(Watch our events page for specific dates!)
Continue Learning at Home!
The goal of storytime is to aide in the development of early literacy skills. Your child will get the most out of their storytime experience if you continue practicing these skills with them beyond the walls of the library. Here are some resources that you can access at home with your library card!
Tumblebooks: Animated picture books, read-along chapter books, and teacher resources. Also includes Spanish ebooks.
LOTE4Kids: Digital picture books in 50+ languages with English translations.
iVox: Interactive storybook app for children ages 4–8. Stories come to life with three dimensional characters and scenes that children can explore.
Bookflix: Classic storybooks paired with nonfiction, word-by-word highlighting, educational games. Also includes Spanish ebooks.
Take a look at our Youtube Channel for videos of our librarians singing our storytime songs and rhymes so you can practice with your child at home.
You can also get ready for our storytimes by reading our blog post, "How to Get the Most Out of Storytime"!
We are BEYOND excited to host more programs and events like Storytime in 2023! See you in the new year!
-Devon Fernandez, Youth Services Librarian, Children's Library and Mitchell Park Library | Follow @devon_thelibrarian on Bibliocommons
