Locked down City libraries think out of the box
The libraries were also unable to host holiday programmes during the July break, which normally allow children to make a variety of crafts.
Storytelling has always been an important part of the City of Johannesburg Library Services.
When libraries were no longer able to physically host children for their programmes, they produced online, digital story times in the form of videos.
“Initially, the story times started out as English story readings on Thursdays, where a librarian read a traditional hard copy book or a digital book using digital sites such as African Storyteller. These proved to be very successful and it was felt that stories in other indigenous languages should also be made available in digital format,” said Nobuntu Mpendulo, the director of Library Information Services in the City of Johannesburg.
Tuesdays became the day for indigenous language story times. Several librarians published their own stories using the African Storyteller website and then read them as part of the indigenous language digital story times.
“These videos were also successful and popular with the community members. It allowed the staff members to have the pride of publishing and reading their own stories and made the story times inclusive for all,” said Mpendulo.
The libraries were also unable to host holiday programmes during the July break, which normally allow children to make a variety of crafts.
“It was decided to create videos showing how to make various crafts so they could be creative at home. The first two videos showed the making of a penguin and a snowman using simple equipment, such as cotton wool and toilet rolls. These were of course geared to our younger community members. A second holiday programme was held in December where children were shown how to make a Christmas decoration and a Santa Claus figure,” said Mpendulo.
The libraries plan to present more of these creative videos and possibly include craft activities that would appeal to adults too. One Libraries Get Crafty video has already been presented for adults, demonstrating how to make a quilted placemat. These would be to encourage the creation of crafts for entrepreneurship. Various other Libraries Get Crafty videos were also shown to coincide with events such as Heritage Month, Halloween and Women’s Month.
The digital story times have reached out to a global audience and will continue to be produced and presented, as they still have continuing popularity with the public, both in South Africa and globally. They have been consistently popular with Facebook audiences from April, when they were first presented, to date.
Digital Storytime with Gwyneth and other digital story times will be continuing as LIS strives to serve young community members.
“Storytelling and a love of books still needs to be fostered within our children. The City of Johannesburg Libraries have been pleased to continue providing this service and instilling the importance of stories to our local and global communities,” said Mpendulo.
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