Reflections on the Power of Storytelling

Posted on by Meghan McCorkell

by Karen Burdnell, Clifton Branch Manager

I wonder if the folks who planned the Maryland State Library Resource Center Storytelling Conference knew how well the day would flow? The pieces all fit in so succinctly.

The keynote speaker, Ann Sheldon, librarian at Grace Episcopal Day School in Kensington, formerly of the DC Public Library, spoke about literary/bardic storytelling.  In this traditional form of storytelling, the literary narrative is memorized and recited. The practice is the epitome of paying tribute to the author’s lyricism and stylized language, and it preserves the story narrative.  Ann discovered her love of this type of storytelling as part of her training as a children’s librarian.

I shared how I was drawn into the study of storytelling at the graduate program at East Tennessee State University. There, I studied the history and psychology of storytelling, including some of the justification for including storytelling as an academic scholarly study, which can stand on its own merit in the academic community. I pointed out how storytelling is used actively in the fields of marketing, health and education.

We toured our very gracious host facility, the Maryland Library for the Blind and Physically Handicapped. Then, we heard from Jake Hutton of Harford County Public Library. He explained how he is able to make his library more inclusive to people in the community, especially children and teens that have special needs. His own mission was galvanized by his experience as a member of an ever-increasing family who continually reached out and embraced children with special needs.

The final speaker, S. “Bunjo” Butler of the Enoch Pratt Free Library, related how he and the members of the Griots’ Circle of Maryland have devised a literary-based program which teaches youth about their history and culture and how to do research to create stories. The students then perform in the oral tradition in public venues. This program has been successfully conducted at the Walbrook Branch of the Pratt Library for 9 years.

What was the common thread I saw for this conference? It was the power of personal storytelling. Four storytellers used their personal stories to exhort and motivate our audience to look at storytelling as a means to engage the public. Four storytellers used their personal stories to offer best practices on ways to provide excellent service to our customers.  Four storytellers used their personal stories to challenge colleagues to recognize their own Call to Adventure and step out on their own Hero’s Journeys.

 

Central Library Renovation: Episode 3

Posted on by Meghan McCorkell

Get a sneak peek behind the walls of the Central Library Renovation in our video series.

In Episode 3, Kim Lovejoy and Sarah Kloze from EverGreene Architectural Arts and John Durcan from Gilbane Building Company show the hidden treasures found beneath the paint in the Central Library and the painstaking attention to detail in restoring the building to its former grandeur.

For more episodes, check out the Pratt Restoration Series on YouTube.

Click here to learn more about the Central Library Renovation Project. 

 

A Reflection and an Impression: New Arrivals in the Fine Arts and Music Department

Posted on by Tracy Dimond

Reviews of new books that explore “noise” and knitting by Eben Dennis, Fine Arts and Music Librarian

Damon Krukowski’s The New Analog: Listening and Reconnecting in a Digital World focuses on the overlooked cost of progress.  The former Galaxie 500 band member uses the word “noise” to describe what the flood of advancements in the digital era has washed away, leaving happy smartphone users, with cheap and  instantaneous access to a voluminous library of music in its wake. But what exactly is noise to Krukowski? Noise is not just the whirring hum of the air conditioner captured along with the final chord of Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club, but it is the liner notes, the experience of the trip to the record store, it is the shelf of albums browsed and dismissed. It is the peripheral sound competing with the music for the ear’s attention, now plugged and muted with earbuds. Ultimately noise is also the groan of an economic engine shifting massive amounts of money from musicians, labels, and and brick and mortar stores, to Apple and social media platforms.

More than an audiophile’s treatise on digital file compression, or a sentimental  “old vs. new mediums” take, Krokowski focuses on the cultural implications of technological advancements and how these change our habits and behavior. Digital music has been stripped of noise the same way the context of the transaction has been stripped of human experience, leaving us all alone in our individually customized worlds. Has the cost of accessing music quicker and cheaper than before come at the cost paid by a piece our humanity? If noise and signal exist as complementary forces, each giving the other context, what exactly remains? In an age where our means of communication have become commodified and efficiently reduced to pure signal, this book serves as a helpful reminder that humans make inefficient machines. So allow me to help you cultivate this inefficiency by recommending it as some quality content to fill your summer leisure.

A passing glance at Field Guide to Knitted Birds by Arne Nerjordet gives the impression that its intended knitting audience would lean closer to Portlandia fans than amateur ornithologists. I mean, there is a picture of a bird with glasses and a perm on the cover. Upon closer inspection this isn’t completely accurate. Originally published in Norway, the unfamiliar species in this book actually populate Eurasia not Narnia as I originally suspected (though this doesn’t explain the little passerine with the spectacles or the section entitled “Birds in Traditional Sweaters”). Additionally, the chapter devoted to various species of birds-of-paradise seems to have been designed with an enthusiast’s eye.  That being said, if you are not an absolute purist about bird plumage, and want to know the basic materials, patterns, and methods for knitting a unique bird from scratch, I would highly recommend this book. It is also insanely cute. You can even come by our Sit ‘n’ Stitch every third Tuesday in the Fine Arts Department to take a look and get some guidance from an expert!