BookTrust Storytime keeps families coming back for more in Norfolk

Name: William Joseph
Price range: $

Case study

Fakenham Library is located in a rural market town in north Norfolk. After seeing the BookTrust Storytime resources, Donna Secker, Assistant Librarian, was excited to take part in the pilot programme in 2021.

Donna in the library holding a book, looking to camera and smiling.

How did you spread the word about BookTrust Storytime?

We pushed a lot using social media to highlight to parents that the session was running, but the first one was still very quiet. We then mentioned it to the parents and the second week we got a few more, and then the word got out and we pushed more on social media. With the Storytime flooring stickers, children were coming in with their parents and using the floor stickers as stepping stones, and the parents were asking questions. So that was a really good pull to advertise the sessions.

Before Covid we would go and visit schools and playgrounds as outreach. We would contact lots of the mother and toddler groups in the area too.

What do you enjoy most about BookTrust Storytime?

My favourite thing about being a librarian and delivering Storytime is… everything!

I just love seeing the children’s faces, and you can tell when they really love a story because they sit there and watch you as you’re reading it. You’re pointing things out in the book and you can see they are really focused on it.

What I like about BookTrust Storytime is the range of books. The books are incredible. I’ve read them again and again. When I get feedback from the parents, they say, ‘Oh, I can’t stop reading it. That’s all they want at night-time.’ The books chosen for Storytime make it a brilliant event.

My favourite thing about being a librarian and delivering Storytime is… everything!
Donna Secker, Assistant Librarian at Fakenham Library

What did you do in your BookTrust Storytime sessions?

For Storytime, I would read a book and the families score it with their stickers. This is quite interesting because the first book I read, they might give it two stickers, and then the next week the families came back and say, ‘Can we give last week’s story book another sticker, please, because we really liked it.’ It’s really good to know that the parents are taking these books home and re-reading them to the children, that’s really positive.

I’m not sure if it’s just because the parents are thinking about the children moving around the library during the session, that maybe they are not sort of taking in the story. The kids are, definitely! But when they go home and take the book with them, they do. The feedback the next week is always so lovely. I’ll say to them, ‘Well, what book did you enjoy the most?’ And they keep changing their minds each week. It just proves that they’re all really good books.

A librarian reading a story to a child in the library.

What did the families think about BookTrust Storytime?

The feedback that I’ve had from families is brilliant. The best feedback I get from parents is that they go home and re-read the book, then talk about it with their children. After I’ve read the book and cleared up, the parents are still here and they’re still talking about the books, and they’ve got the books in front of them. They’re still reading them. The feedback has been incredible.

When I read Octopus Shocktopus, I had a toy octopus with me, but the children weren’t able to touch it due to Covid. After, the parents said they had gone out and bought different toys to go with the stories, which was lovely. That’s really good feedback.

Has running BookTrust Storytime sessions helped you in other ways?

Many of the families hadn’t used the library when we started Bounce and Rhyme, so some of the families from Bounce and Rhyme have come along to Storytime. Previously, none of them had been into the library. Now they’ve been here, they’ve signed up to the library and they come, return books and take more books with them.

Three things to take away

Use BookTrust Storytime resources such as floor stickers to attract families to your events
Visit parent and toddler groups to spread the word about BookTrust Storytime
Revisit BookTrust Storytime books and ask families what they enjoyed