Stapleton joins the simultaneous storytelling

SURF Coast Shire mayor Libby Stapleton was among the many civic leaders who sat down to share a good book during National Simultaneous Storytime.

The 22nd annual National Simultaneous Storytime took place at libraries not only across the Geelong region but in venues across Australia at 11am on Wednesday last week.

Children across the country read, or were read, the same book: Family Tree, written by Australian singer and songwriter Josh Pyke and illustrated by Ronojoy Ghosh.

The initiative is co-ordinated by the Australian Library and Information Association.

Cr Libby Stapleton – who read Family Tree to a big crowd at Torquay Library – joined more than a dozen local councillors and Geelong Regional Library Corporation (GRLC) staff and board members who participated across the region, including City of Greater Geelong deputy mayor Trent Sullivan at the Geelong Library and Heritage Centre, Borough of Queenscliffe mayor Ross Ebbels at the Queenscliff Town Hall, GRLC chief executive officer Vanessa Schernickau at Leopold Library, Golden Plains Shire mayor Gavin Gamble at the Bannockburn Library, and Colac Otway Shire mayor Kate Hanson at Colac Library.

GRLC board chair Cr Ron Nelson said the corporation was proud to participate in this year’s National Simultaneous Storytime.

“We are very pleased to be able to participate in National Simultaneous Storytime again in 2022 and help to highlight the known benefits of reading aloud to children.

“Libraries play a crucial role in fostering a love of reading in children from a young age and providing collections and resources to families which help to make reading fun and engaging.

“Our library members have access to a huge collection of children’s books, eCollections, as well as early literacy programs and children’s events, such as this one.

“Victorian libraries welcome thousands of children and their families into Story Time, Baby Time and other literacy programs each week. Libraries are the primary providers of early years’ literacy programs for children aged 0-3 and their families.”

Last year was the biggest ever National Simultaneous Storytime, with 1.98 million children participating at more than 33,000 locations.