Storytelling Guild

The Storytelling Guild provides a weekly storytime in the Medford Library Children's Department. The Storytelling Guild is a volunteer organization which acts as an outreach arm of Jackson County Library Services. The Guild's mission is to encourage children, from birth through elementary school, to read. Additional information is available at their website, http://www.storytellingguild.org/.

History:

Jackson County Library Services and the Storytelling Guild launched the Children's Festival in 1967. The Festival began as a small storytelling program, billed as: "A Child's Fun 'N Fantasy Afternoon", which was to be held under the trees at Britt Gardens in Jacksonville. The turnout for this one-day event was so tremendous (500 children) that it was repeated the next day for another 500 children!

It was apparent that this was an important program and plans were readied for a true Festival in 1968. The Storytelling Guild and the Jackson County Library began planning by recruiting volunteers from the mothers who attended the first festival. Sixteen volunteers and the local chapter of the American Association of University Women planned for that second year.

The second festival drew 2,000 children. The third, 4,000, and by 1981 the Children's Festival was attracting 15,000! At that time Jackson County's Parks and Recreation program was bussing in children from recreation sites throughout the county. Today the average attendance is between 8,000 and 10,000. The number of volunteers has increased to 2,000.

But that's not all...

Storytelling Guild Programs:

The Storytelling Guild sponsors many programs including Pass the Book, Bookwalk, Book Share/Read to Your Bunny, F.R.E.D., Preschool Storytime, Dial-A-Story, as well as donating to many book related programs in Jackson County, such as SMART. Following is a brief description of each program.

Pass The Book

Pass the Book is a program to redistribute books to children who may otherwise not have access to books. The goal is to enrich children's lives through books and reading. In 1999, over 1,200 books were distributed by the Storytelling Guild to 14 different organizations including the Children's Advocacy Center, Dunn House, The Jackson County Juvenile Detention Center, Access, and others.

Bookwalk

Bookwalk is a fashion show of books presented to third graders throughout Jackson County. Using sandwich boards, props and costumes, volunteers bring approximately 20 books to life.

F.R.E.D. (Fundamental Reading Enrichment and Development)

F.R.E.D. is a reading incentive program for 3rd grade students at Washington, Jackson and White City Schools. Students read for five hours over a four-week period. Their teachers monitor the students' progress and provide incentives to succeed. Children who reach their reading goal each receive a book from a large assortment purchased by the Guild.

Dial-A-Story

The Dial-A-Story hotline at 541-774-6439 is available anytime, day or night, for your preschooler's own private storytime! Stories are updated frequently by volunteers from the Storytelling Guild.