by Shelley Macon, Head Editor, INALJ Florida

Story Time Resources

It is not easy to put together cute, clever, and effective story time programs week after week. Even the best of us run out of ideas or can use a little inspiration every now and then. Not to mention the fact that it can be quite intimidating for new (and not so new) librarians to face down a room full of toddlers and their parents. Lucky for use there is a plethora of wonderful resources out there to help us. Here is a list of just a few to get you started.

• Mel’s Desk – An awesome blog full of story time, craft, and flannel board ideas plus a list of other great resources.

• Mid-Hudson Library System Story Hour Resources – A great resource for not only story time ideas and resources, but story time how-to’s as well.

• Silly Librarian (formerly Silly Librarian Storytime Snapshot) – Another great blog full of ideas for programs.

• Colorado Libraries for Early Literacy: Online Resources for Planning Baby Storytimes – This site has not been updated in a while, but it still has some great resources specifically aimed at baby story times.

• storytime katie – A well organized blog with all kinds of wonderful story time info.

• Harris County Public Library Story Time Ideas – A list of story time programs with target age suggestions. It also includes some bi-lingual programs.

• Music & Rhyme Station – This website is full of songs for children organized by themes.

• The Art of Reading a Storybook – This is a series of videos that cover all aspects of selecting and reading a story as well as managing a story time program.

• Reading is Fundamental – Among other things, this website has some great finger plays of common toddler songs.

• Talk Story – A database of Asian Pacific American, American Indian, and Alaskan Native story time themed programs.

• Allied Drive Literacy Time: Creating Storytimes – This website not only lists resources for finding kids books, songs, and crafts for creating great story times but it also has a short list of books for story time planning.

• Flannel Board Resources – A list of some great resources for creating flannel boards. Make sure to check out their list of story time ideas as well.

• SurLaLune Storytime – A great list of story time programs from the creator of the fabulous SurlaLune website.