Marvin's World Travels

Submitted by Stephani Lindsey

We have an exciting year ahead for Marvin, Sharon Forks Library’s Mascot! 

Marvin will be traveling the world and sharing what he learned with our storytime friends. Sharon Forks will be presenting monthly Multilingual storytimes beginning in September. The intention of the program is to introduce the diverse cultures and languages present in our county while fostering community and staff collaboration and representation. The goal is to provide exposure to different languages to children and families. 

And we need YOUR help! Each month we will feature a new language and culture. To ensure we are giving proper respect and being mindful of cultural appropriation, we want to collaborate with a native/fluent speaker of that language (either a staff member from any department or a vetted community member) to provide the verbal translation of a book they will be reading along with Anu, Youth Specialist at Sharon Forks. 

Anu will be planning and presenting the storytimes that will include information about where Marvin traveled and read the English language portion of a simple book. The special guest will read the same book in that month’s language. They will also have the opportunity to bring some items to show and tell about their country, if they’d like! The programs will end with a cultural craft for the two older groups and special multicultural toys and games for toddler play time.

If you would like to share your language and culture with us and our storytime families, please fill out the Sharon Forks Library Multilingual Storytime Survey.

Marvin’s World Travels will begin during Fall Break in September with his special guest, Andre, Web Applications Technician, who will be sharing his French Canadian culture and language with us!

This program will be held during our existing storytime time slots one week each month:

• Family Storytime, Monday 6:30–7:00 p.m.
• Toddler Tales, Wednesday 10:00–10:30 a.m.
• Preschool Pals, Wednesday 11:00–11:30 a.m.

Sharon Forks staff will work with your supervisor to coordinate on-the-clock time for practice and the programs.