Join in the Celebration: Indies First Storytime Day — May 17

Indies First Storytime Day promises to be a great day for children of all ages, participating authors, and indie bookstores alike, with many planning traditional — and not so traditional — read-aloud events to make the day their own. Celebrated as part of this year’s Children’s Book Week (May 12–18), Indies First Storytime Day invites authors to volunteer at their local indie bookstores to create a children’s storytime on Saturday, May 17, that celebrates stories and the independent booksellers who work so hard to put them into the hands of readers. Many have taken the challenge issued by Kate DiCamillo, the 2014–2015 National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature, to heart, and some are even veering off to the nontraditional.

California’s Books Inc. is teaming up with Raising a Reader, a local literacy nonprofit with the aim of putting books in the hands of children. At the Marina and Alameda locations, volunteers from Raising a Reader will be hosting storytime with specially crafted reading experiences designed to enhance the event for younger readers. Books Inc. Opera Plaza will be holding a special educational workshop on child brain development and the importance of reading aloud with children. A percentage of all sales made during Books Inc.’s Indies First Storytime Day events will benefit Raising a Reader’s literacy efforts in the Bay Area.

Student authors from Tri-City College Prep’s publication class will be reading selections aloud from their favorite titles and will also present their newly published children’s book, A to Z Mythology, at Peregrine Book Company in Prescott, Arizona. The talented teens developed, wrote, illustrated, and edited the book, receiving funding through the Yavapai County Education Foundation, which provides grants for teachers to use in their classrooms for projects and supplies that are otherwise unattainable.

Source Booksellers in Detroit, Michigan, has invited the local community to host a Mothers Read Aloud event, welcoming mothers of all ages within the community to read their favorite children’s books aloud to customers and attendees in an effort to highlight the importance of storytime.

Kate Milford, who is both a bookseller at McNally Jackson Booksellers and an author, has organized The Phantom Tollbooth Reader’s Theater to present a dramatic reading of the book performed by middle grade authors, followed by a panel discussion. It wasn’t difficult for the store to recruit other authors, said Milford. Participating authors include Adam Gidwitz, Michael Northrop, Natalie Standiford, Matthew Cody, Jeffrey Salane, Courtney Sheinmel, and Kekla Magoon. 

YA author Tom Leveen will be appearing at Tempe, Arizona’s Changing Hands Bookstore. “My usual genre is for the 14 and up crowd, so to come back to the greatness of picture books and dragon puppets — I’ll be using ours! — is thrilling and awesome!” Leveen said. “To have my son in the audience watching and reading along, so much the better.” 

There’s still time for ABA members make plans to host one or more of the many authors who have signed on to read to children at an independent bookstore on May 17, and the Reader Volunteer Index features a list of authors still waiting to be paired with a bookstore. (A BookWeb username and password is required to access the list.)

All booksellers planning to host an event on May 17 are invited to provide their details and to be listed on the Indies First Storytime Day map. Map visitors can locate their nearest Indies First Storytime Day event and see the specifics for their local stores, including event times and features, visiting authors and recent titles, and store contact information.

Booksellers looking to add event details or to make changes to their information for Indies First Storytime Day do not need to register again; the information is editable by following the link provided in the store’s Indies First event confirmation e-mail. If booksellers cannot find their confirmation e-mail, they should notify ABA’s Anne Caldwell.

Is your store on the Indies First Storytime Day map?