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Community Corner

Library Hosts 31st Annual Storytelling Festival

Palo Alto Children's library exposes children to the art of traditional storytelling.

Remember when we were kids, snuggling in our cozy beds, delightfully listening to grandpa, while he tells us one of our favorite stories? This is the type of atmosphere that the Children's Library will try to replicate today, at the 31st annual storytelling festival.

“The whole objective is to keep oral tradition alive and expose people to traditional storytelling,” says Jill Giorgetti, senior librarian and organizer of the event.

The storytellers will not read from books but will tell their stories using theatrical elements. One storyteller, Chip Curry, uses musical instruments to accompany his stories.

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“The storytelling is more acting-based,” Giorgetti says. “They are stories that are told from generation to generation or brand new. It can be anything from an old folk tale to something that is completely made up."

The library has arranged to have 15 professional tellers from all over the Bay Area. They each get 15-minute slots to tell their stories. Many of the storytellers specialize in different genres of storytelling, from traditional folk stories to their own original stories. The event features storytellers Katy Obringer, Barbara Chamberlain, Kristin Link, Jean Ellisen, Karin Werner, Laurie Pines, Carol Nyhoff, Bobby Kinkead, Tom and Sandy Farley, Gary Turchin, Chip Curry, Joy Swift, Maya Spector and Cheryl Lee.

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“The audience can stay for one hour or the whole day or just stay for one story; it's a drop-in sort of thing,” Giorgetti says.

Children and their parents are welcome to attend the event. Palo Alto Mayor Pat Burns will be at the library at 1 p.m. to introduce himself to families. There will be snacks and refreshments, and the storytelling will take place in front of the fire place.

 “We want a really cozy feeling,” Girogetti says. “We are trying to recreate that feeling you get at home.”

Giorgetti recommends that parents take children ages 4 and up to the event, but this suggestion is not strictly enforced.

The event is today from 1-5 p.m. at the Palo Alto Children's Library, 1276 Harriet St.

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