On the 9th of October, forty public library specialists of Panevėžys region participated in creative storytelling art workshop with professional storytellers Richard Martin (Germany) and Raymond den Boestert (Netherlands). This event was organized by Panevėžys County Gabrielė Petkevičaitė-Bitė Public as a part of the Erasmus+ program accreditation project, in which, in addition to the qualification visits of librarians from Panevėžys region abroad, visits to Lithuania by invited experts from Europe are planned.
Learning the intricacies of storytelling has already become a tradition
Since 2021, a network of storytelling libraries has been operating in Panevėžys region. The librarians of Panevėžys region use the methods of storytelling learned from professional Swedish, Norwegian, and Latvian storytellers in educational classes, club activities, and cultural events, the visitors of which are representatives of various age groups. On the 17th-18th of October, 2023 Panevėžys County Gabrielė Petkevičaitė-Bitė Public Library hosted an international practical conference “The Power of Story, Inspiring Voice: Engaging Educators in Digital Storytelling”, aimed at library professionals seeking to improve their traditional and digital storytelling skills. The purpose of the workshop, held on the 9th of October, 2024 was to bring together the librarians of the network of storytelling libraries, so that during the meeting with professional storytellers they would have the opportunity to update and supplement their knowledge, to get new tools for the application of the storytelling art method in educational activities.
Librarians enriched their knowledge and learned new methods
With the storyteller Richard Martin, the workshop participants remembered the most important elements of effective storytelling – eye contact, the narrator’s posture, facial expressions, gestures. By completing the tasks given by the lecturer, the librarians felt the importance of direct and indirect language, learned to structure the story and create a plot line.
Storyteller Raymond den Boestert revealed to the training participants the intricacies of using imagination and managing fantasy, showed how they can play with their emotions, giving the story a different colour.
No less important was the element of live performance in the training – the participants could enjoy the stories told by the lecturers, seeing an excellent example of story presentation in front of them and being able to add new resources to the content of their self-led educational classes.
The lecturers emphasized the importance of feedback – that it is necessary to notice the strengths of your fellow storytellers and be sure to let them know about that as well as give advice on what colleagues could improve in order to grow as storytellers.
Participants’ feedback and plans
The librarians who participated in the workshop are happy with the positive, warm and cozy atmosphere of the event created by the charismatic lecturers and the opportunity to meet colleagues who also use storytelling techniques in their work. According to the participants, the workshop consolidated the knowledge and skills they already had, the practical tasks developed their creativity, and helped set free their imagination and acting skills. It is important to believe the story being told and to discover a close connection between themselves and the listener and to express their emotions freely. According to librarians, workshops like this help to free oneself, gain more confidence, and encourages the desire to improvise. No less it is important to see your colleagues in the learning process, to have the opportunity to practice together and enjoy the creative process.
The representatives of the storytelling libraries claim that during the training they got acquainted with even more methods of the art of storytelling – from expressive speaking, liberating body language to establishing a communicative connection with the audience and memorizing the text and fluent creative narration. The participants positively evaluated the lecturers’ organization of practical work, as by completing the tasks they got ideas on how to organize activities for larger groups of people.
Speaking about the application of knowledge gained during the training, the librarians are already planning to use this knowledge in sensory reading and memory training sessions with seniors, teaching foreign languages, organizing book presentations and storytelling evenings, giving library tours, etc. It should be noted that each participant of the workshop found here a context, suitable for both children, youth and adult audiences.
Insights from the lecturers
According to storyteller Raymond den Boestert, libraries bring communities and different generations of people together by providing a platform for storytellers and hosting interactive programs. Libraries can play an important role in preserving local stories, digitizing and retelling them, ensuring they remain accessible to future generations. According to the lecturer, the most important thing is for the storyteller to create their own story. The audience is touched when they see something that touches the narrator personally. Storytelling in libraries can attract new readers and enrich their reading experience. Thus, storytelling and reading promotion can go hand in hand.
Storyteller Richard Martin is happy to see the librarians being so enthusiastic about learning and developing storytelling skills during the workshop. According to him, there are definitely people in libraries who are able not only to improve as storytellers, but also to create a library context in which storytelling becomes a part of the library’s culture. It is important to develop the methodological aspect so that storytelling is not only a pleasant entertainment, but also a process of continuous learning and improvement. Therefore, an online session with the librarians who participated in the October workshop is planned for November. During the meeting, reflection will take place, participants will be able to ask questions to the lecturers, share their point of view on storytelling opportunities in their libraries.
Virginija Švedienė
Coordinator of Adult Education Activities
