The Title of the Blog

Today I’m thrilled to be featured – in very good company – on Storytime Underground‘s weekly links roundup. Y’all made my day; thank you for the vote of confidence.

The Title of the Blog: Playing the Hits.

We all know that repetition is critical for connecting with children, and the younger they are the more true it is. ‘Playing the Hits’ is a reference to that; when I run a storytime, it’s at least 50% familiar content. Children are comforted, parents sing along, and I feel confident. But there’s a lot of pressure (especially once you’ve joined the realm of storytime blogging) to innovate! excite! impress! invent! make a flannel EVERY FRIDAY! …and I don’t think it’s always necessary. My friend Lindsey (hi!) of @Jbrary and Kendra (@klmpeace) had a brief exchange on Twitter this week that really spoke to me (seriously. I printed out a screenshot of it and hung it up in my cubicle):

Every program we do is groundbreaking to a child.

Let that sink in. It’s true. Even if we repeat, borrow, copy, re-use: it’s all groundbreaking to the people who matter most. Repetition makes me a better programmer. Picking up ideas from other librarians makes my programs stronger. Children’s librarians, as a group, are a powerful force for great ideas, community support, and peer education. Don’t mix that up with “copying” and “stealing.” Don’t feel bad about it.

Together, we are powerful.