Storytime Rescue: Emergency Program Planning

I have been working on developing a contingency plan for if I have to cover a storytime at my or another branch in an emergency. I have pulled some books from my branch's professional storytime collection as well as my personal collection at home that can work well with a wide variety of ages and that I am comfortable reading to an unknown audience. I also do a lot of these books at my regular storytimes and preschool visits.

The books that I have set aside for this are:

• Bark, George by Jules Feiffer
• Hi, Pizza Man by Virginia Walter
• Cows in the Kitchen by June Crebbin
• It Looked Like Spilt Milk by Charles G. Shaw

I also included some well known songs that encourage participation:

• If You're Happy and You Know It
• The More We Get Together
• Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes

I did not include any recorded music because in a pinch I don't want to mess around with an unknown CD player (let alone try to find it at a different branch!)

I also do Little Mouse and my Bingo draw and tell. I have a portable whiteboard that tucks easily into a box or tote bag. If scarves are available, I'll do a few simple rhymes like Popcorn Kernels.

For baby storytimes, I rely strongly on material I learned from Mel's Desk and Jbrary. I have not regularly done a baby storytime since about 2011 so when I have to cover other people's baby storytimes, I find it easiest not to also attempt to learn anything new. I find storytime flows best when the material is really familiar to the presenter and, thus, I don't worry about introducing new and innovative stuff when I am just filling in.

So when I did a baby storytime a few months ago, it looked something like this (again, relying on Mel's genius and traditional songs):

• If You're Happy and You Know It
• Little Mouse, Little Mouse
• The Wheels on the Bus
• Scarf rhyme: Little Bo Peep
• Scarf rhyme: Zoom, Zoom, Zoom We're Going to the Moon
• This is Big, Big, Big
• The Elevator Song
• The Sneeze Game
• The More We Get Together

Note: I adapted this image from Open Clip Art.