Digital storytelling

Digital Storytelling - Julianna Carranza

Digital Storytelling is another great tool that can be used by librarians to have a greater way to reach patrons in the community. It is defined as "...the process of using multimedia tools to tell a story” (Yazdian & Diamant-Cohen 2023). Digital storytelling can also serve as an activity to be used by students and patrons which can help hone their skills with technology and also teach them in how to craft and depict a narrative with the help of online tools.

Digital storytelling comes in many different forms. When a librarian makes use of digital storytelling, this often results in Storytime or circle time videos. With their already honed skills from in person storytime programs, librarians can incorporate this into virtual storytimes & circle times. A 3 things to note when creating a story/circle time video is to:

1. Be Interactive!

Much like children's television shows, you can use the same tactics of asking questions and pausing for a response (Fast 2020). You can also encourage them to follow along with different hand or body movements and ask them repeat new words.

2. Incorporate Props or Photos & Animations!

This will likely encourage greater engagement and allow the video to become more attractive to the young audience. By having props while telling the story, it makes it easier to bring out certain important objects or to even emphasize new vocabulary and different colors (Fast 2020).

3. Feel free to add background music or sound effects!

By adding background noises or music, you can create a more engaging atmosphere. With noise effects, you can create a more tangible environment, or your background music can match the tone of the story you're reading. This helps get across more emotion when storytelling.