Library story time brings pages to life

Where can kids go in Maricopa to swim with deep-sea turtles and ride on the backs of giraffes? In their imaginations, of course! And with a closet full of costumes and a head full of ideas, Librarian Linda Wilmeth is the perfect guide. Story time at the Maricopa Library comes complete with animated readings, costumed performances and puppets. Even parents find themselves entertained. Nearly 30 children of all ages participated in the event Tuesday.

Story time at the Maricopa Library is a popular event.

Librarian Linda Wilmeth read a book about frogs — and every child got to wear a frog hat.

Amber Liermann and her children Charlie and RyAnn all enjoyed the story.

Celebrating 13 years in August as the Maricopa librarian, Wilmeth is still generating fun ways of inspiring children to read. “When the new books come in, I’ll set them aside and try to act them out,” she said. “Sometimes, I laugh until I cry.”

Certain books are good for reading straight from the pages because of their colorful illustrations or humorous drawings, while others are better for interpreting theatrically. Some just draw children in with their pop-up structures made for tiny fingers to explore. At the most recent story time, Wilmeth handed out constructed green paper hats with frogs on them and asked children to make funny noises to bring a swamp story to life.

The children listened intently to the story, which was brought to life with the aid of a frog puppet (below).

John Martinez, 4, thought the frog puppet was pretty funny.

While she practices her performances beforehand, reality can sometimes throw a story into a tailspin. “If the kids look dead-panned, or they didn’t get it, or it’s over their heads… or you think, ‘now, where’s my worm?’ and you see one of the kids in the back stretching it… you have to adapt quickly,” she says with a genuine laugh, indicating that she cares more about kids than perfection. Because Wilmeth has so much fun, kids adore her.

In 1995 Wilmeth attended a workshop, sponsored by the State Library Extension, designed to give librarians ideas for story time. “I learned to make masks and puppets out of felt, and then I just took it from there.” Stacks and stacks of organized crafts, costumes, masks and puppets line the walls of a storage closet in the tiny library. While she makes many of her own items, the Arizona network of libraries provides additional creative resources. “That’s the great thing about this business; it’s not cut-throat. If I find something great, I’m just dying to share it with the others,” Wilmeth said.

Out of 13 original libraries in Pinal County, Maricopa was known for its creative story time when Wilmeth became librarian. Melinda Sisson, County Librarian at the time, came out to install a computer and found Wilmeth working crafts with 27 kids on the floor as part of the story time series. Later, Wilmeth invited a guest to show children how to use donated yo-yos. Sisson, who happened to be visiting the library again that day, was amazed at what could be done with virtually no budget. Word spread, and soon other libraries followed suit. Maricopa had become a positive force in advancing the story time movement in other areas.

When the library was given a small budget to help fund story time, Wilmeth invited performers from Florence to come. “We rented costumes and began doing story time in the schools and daycare centers,” Wilmeth said. She hopes to conduct school assemblies again but needs to find additional volunteers to make it happen.

Six-year-old Bandon Pike overheard Wilmeth speaking enthusiastically about a good book. He piped up and said he read that one, too. “Once, I got up in the night and went to the cupboard to get marshmallows and eat them while I read,” said Pike. When asked if marshmallows were part of the story, he said, “Nope, I just like to eat them.” Pike especially loves the pop-up dinosaur series.

Amber Galuppo found some time to color.

Bandon Pike, 6, helps two-year-old Laine Baltzly with his craft project.

Macyn Helmsing reads to her friend Sadie McRae from one of the many books available in the children’s section at the library.

Aside from story time, the biggest highlight in Wilmeth’s career was assisting residents with online voting during a Democratic primary back in the ’90s. Many of the local residents did not own computers, so they came to the library to vote. “We had 142 voters come in the door that day,” Wilmeth said. “That was a huge highlight to help them because our purpose is to serve the community, and I really felt like we did that day.”

Story time will be held once more this summer on Tuesday, July 18, at 10 a.m. It will resume again in the fall.