Story Squad gave a presentation/workshop for seniors interested in joining the Treeo Senior Living community in Raleigh.  We shared folktales and personal stories and discussed Dr. Sturm’s theoretical model of the storylistening experience and the trance-like state it can induce. It was amazing how these strangers built community in the short hour-and-a-half they were together, sharing personal tales about themselves as though they were old friends. That’s one of the powers of storytelling!

Story Squad storytellers had a wonderful time telling tales from around the world to a packed house (150+ people) in the Pleasants Room of Wilson Library on the UNC campus this evening. We decided to bring back some of the favorite folktales of American childhood, including Goldilocks and the Three Bears, The Gingerbread Man, and The Three Billy Goats Gruff. We also shared Anansi Gets Stories (from African folklore), Rabbit’s Snow Dance (from Native American folklore), and an adaptation of the picture book Muncha, Muncha, Muncha by Candace Fleming.

We had lots of children, lots of candy, lots of hot chocolate, and LOTS of fun! Thank you to the Friends of the UNC Libraries for making this delightful family event happen year after year (26 years to be exact).  One woman came up afterwards and said, “This is the fourth year I’ve brought my children, and we love it,” while another said, “I keep coming to this event even though my children have grown up and left the house; it’s such a wonderful community gathering.”

We visited Estes Hills Elementary School today to share stories in celebration of their annual bookfair and the reading that the children are doing.  While we didn’t read from books (that’s reading aloud, not storytelling), we made sure to tell the children that our tales can be found in books, particularly in the library under Dewey Decimal number 398.2.  We’ll see if they remember that when they visit their school or public library.

We told one set of stories to the K-2 grades and another set to the 3-5-graders in the gym.

Once again Story Squad will share tales under the starry skies of the Morehead Planetarium and Science Center. Tickets are on sale now and going quickly.  The flyer included in this post will give you details on the event, and you can purchase tickets here.  We hope to see you there!

Story Squad provided a workshop for the NCLA Leadership Institute to help participants understand how storytelling can help them as library leaders to showcase their own leadership strengths, and to market and brand their libraries. We discussed various kinds of stories leaders should be able to tell (based on the seminal work of Annette Simmons, and her book The Story Factor. Brian also shared folktales and personal stories as examples of each type of story. The group then explored several marketing stories online and then developed their own unique story to showcase the library values or services they wished to target.

Brian Sturm gave the closing keynote address at the national meeting of the Association of Bookmobile and Outreach Services, drawing wisdom from a variety of folktales from around the world to shed light on outreach services and their impact on communities. He shared the tale of Nasruddin Hodja who forgets to count the donkey he is riding when tallying his herd, a reminder to value yourself and what you offer; he shared the tale of The Stonecutter with the moral that you are strongest when you are yourself, not trying to be something else; and he told the tale of the Best Cookies in the World which foregrounds how easily we make assumptions of other people’s behavior, often to our embarrassment and regret.

Story Squad members Areej Hussein, Amy Sayle, and Brian Sturm joined Sarah Beth Nelson and her young daughter in an evening of folktales and personal stories at the Bynum Front Porch. This event occurs the second Saturday of every month with a rotating band of storytellers. It’s a delightful venue, open to the public, and since Amy shared a star story, many folks went out afterwards onto the Bynum Bridge for an impromptu star-gazing.

Brian Sturm gave a pre-conference workshop for the National Storytelling Summit in Kansas City on the ways in which stories can bring hidden voices to life.  He discussed folktales as vehicles for resistance to hegemonic forces and dominant voices; he explored the role storytelling can play in business branding and marketing and the voices and faces that are not included in those stories; and he explained how students in his first-year seminar at UNC built on these concepts to develop personal stories of resistance, struggle, and triumph over the forces of repression, racism, and bigotry that exist in modern American society.  The attendees came from all over the world and brought their own stories of how they use storytelling to reveal and heal social injustice and inequity.  What an experience!  The conversation was amazing; the caring was inclusive and expansive; and the feedback was wonderful: “This was truly one of the highlights for me of this years’ conference” and “I, too, had a moving experience in the gathering with Brian and all of you.  From my perspective there was much wisdom in the room, and I appreciated how Brian set the tone for us to share our specific gifts & abilities.  It’s one of the best conference experiences I have had in a long time.”

Story Squad and other storytellers in the Triangle area are teaming up to raise money for Prevent Child Abuse NC (PCANC).  We are holding a storytelling event on the theme of “Parenting is Hard: Stories from the Trenches!” at King’s in Raleigh (14 W. Martin Street).  Here are the details:

What: Storytelling (personal stories and folktales)

Where: Kings, Ralgeigh  (14 W. Martin Street)

Date: TUESDAY, JUNE 12th, 2018

Time: 7:00pm

Tickets: $40.  Advance tickets can be purchased here.

Here’s a map to the site.

Stories should be appropriate for older kids, but there may be some swearing, so please plan accordingly.

Please come out and support this wonderful organization!

Story Squad director, Brian Sturm, shared folktales with 2nd graders at Northside Elementary school in Chapel Hill yesterday as part of their annual Readathon. Brian brought his guitar and shared African stories of Anansi (the original spiderman) and Abiyoyo the giant, in keeping with the celebration of February as black history month.