Messages to LibraryCall customers about new ideas and service offerings.
Can you believe the first day of fall is only a week away? My grocery store is already stocked with pumpkin spice everything, and here at LibraryCall, we’re working on new fall-themed stories to share with you in the coming weeks. We’re also looking forward to adding some of the stories you have offered to share with your colleagues. Stay tuned!
With school back in session, there’s an opportunity to reach more young story lovers by promoting your library’s dial-a-story service through local preschools and elementary schools. My sister, a second grade teacher, has already had multiple students out on periods of quarantine this year. With Dial-A-Story, you can offer teachers like my sister a great resource to share with their students who are out of school or learning from home. We’ve also heard from some preschool teachers who enjoy listening to your stories with their students during class.
You may have noticed that some of the recordings featured in the Storytime Commons include charming British accents, original music, and sound effects. Did the LibraryCall readers get a dialect coach? Nope! LibraryCall has partnered with London-based Storynory.com, one of the largest sources of free and well-loved children’s audiobooks online.
As Summer Reading winds down and kids head back to school, we know many of you are thinking about how to support the families in your community during these challenging times. We thought it might be helpful to have a Back to School story you could share that would be sensitive to kids’ experiences with Covid-19 and school closures, so we created an original story for you.
We will be hosting a Storytime Commons Chat via Zoom on Thursday, July 29 at 12:00 PM Pacific (3:00 Eastern/ 2:00 Central/ 1:00 Mountain). The idea behind this event is to give you a space to swap ideas and stories and get your Dial-A-Story questions answered. We’d love to see you all there! Here is the event description and registration link:
Storytime Commons Chat
I’m guessing you’ve put some time and effort into preparing stories for your Dial-A-Story service. If you’d like to get more return on your investment and reach more community members, we recommend using the LibraryCall web widget. The widget allows you to easily share Dial-A-Story recordings on your library’s website. In addition to sharing stories, you also have options to share: an image, a description/blurb, a read-along PDF or other supporting documents, and a link to a book title in your catalog.
I’m guessing most of you are in the thick of Summer Reading. What a fun (and exhausting) time of year for public libraries! We’d love to hear about any creative ways you’re using your LibraryCall services to reach your communities this summer.
Stories for Your Summer Reading Themes
Happy Memorial Day! Before heading out for a long weekend, I wanted to send you an update on some new things available to you at LibraryCall.
New Audio Collections
Would you like to find or share audio recordings of things beyond stories? Check out our new Facts & Trivia and “Tune In” Radio Show audio collections, created so you can share non-story recordings with each other.
Happy Friday! We’ve seen some great ideas come through the LibraryCall and Dial-a-Story email lists this week.
Sharing Audio Recordings That Aren’t Stories
We’ve been busy adapting, translating, and recording public domain stories to add to the Storytime Commons. In case you’re not familiar with U.S. copyright law, most works published before 1926 are now copyright-free and available to freely use and adapt. As you can imagine, stories written almost 100 years ago do not always age well. We enjoy giving stories modern makeovers that your communities can enjoy without cringing at outdated language and ideas!
Here are some stories we added to the Storytime Commons this month: