Take a peek at Huntington Beach Public Library’s storytime program.
Bubbles fill the room as children’s music welcomes our smallest library patrons. The storyteller greets everyone, and storytime begins. Thirty minutes here looks like play because every minute was built for the children in this room.
At Huntington Beach Public Library, storytime is more than sitting down with a favorite picture book. It is a living conversation with our community. We listen, then answer with programs that meet children where they are, from first nursery rhyme to independent readers.
We look closely at who walks through our doors and what they need. That is why our calendar spans ages and interests: storytimes for infants, toddlers, preschoolers and school-age children; bilingual storytime; a toddler craft storytime and big kid craft storytime; music and movement; and evening pajama storytime. Read to a Dog is storytime in reverse. The child reads. A calm dog listens.
What makes storytime feel magical is intention. Our storytellers plan each 30-minute program around what that age can do. We aim for school readiness through participation that feels like entertainment, not a lesson. Which books land? Which songs travel home in the car? We follow a rhythmic format families can feel even if they cannot name it: listening, then singing; sitting, then dancing; repetition, then surprise. A little whimsy is woven through every plan on purpose.
We invite families into that process before they arrive. Our weekly newsletter shares upcoming themes, books and music, with links to the library catalog and songs they can replay at home. Children arrive excited about what is coming next. Parents leave with a way to keep the fun going at home.
The magic multiplies when the rest of the city comes along. Fire trucks roll up. Recycling trucks and school buses visit. Lifeguard surfboards and jeeps appear. Street sweepers and public works machines rumble in. Animal handlers and even ladybugs join the fun. Those collaborations turn storytime into a living picture of the community that our children are growing up in. The little ones light up when a familiar truck or real surfboard becomes part of the story.
A good storytime program does not treat children as a single audience. It notices who is in the room: babies who need bounce and rhyme, toddlers who need to stomp and join in, preschoolers ready for plot and play, school-age kids who want to participate and create.
When the bubbles have all popped and the last note of the closing song fades, we say goodbye one by one with a stamp on the hand. We plan for the community. We end with the individual child.
Kari Johnson is Youth Services Library assistant at Huntington Beach Public Library.
