Fredericton Public Library’s December programming includes a storytelling event this week.
The Fredericton Public Library has a full slate of free monthly events planned that continue this week with a storytelling circle, Wednesday December 14 from 7 – 8:30 p.m. Everyone is invited to attend this informal group of storytellers to celebrate and take part in the pure enjoyment of sharing and hearing stories.
“A few years ago, several storytellers from the Fredericton area decided to revive what used to be an active storytelling group,” said the group’s Joanna LeBlanc. “In the past we had hosted Storyfest in the winter and for a while, it was an annual event with national and international storytellers performing at the Playhouse, The Lieutenant Governor’s house, libraries and in schools. It died out but some of us continue to tell stories and belong to the Canadian Storytellers of Canada.”
LeBlanc and her fellow raconteurs meet the third Wednesday of each month to share stories at the library.
“Sometimes we have a theme, such as Winter, Christmas and other Seasonal Stories this Wednesday,” said LeBlanc. “This week I am going to tell A Baker’s Dozen, a story which explains the reason for 13 in a baker’s dozen and is also about St. Nicholas. Stories don’t have to follow the theme as all stories are welcome. We would love to grow our group as we try to advance the oral tradition.”
This event is just one of many the library has planned this month.
“Now that we are open seven days a week, we have even more free programs for patrons throughout the week for children and adults,” said Fredericton Public Library’s Christine Nash. “We have also been lending untraditional items that have proven to be very popular among our patrons. We now lend board games and ukelele’s and coming soon, we will be lending out snowshoes.”
The lending of board games and snowshoes are just a small part of the adaptive initiatives many libraries across the country are currently undertaking. This month’s programming at the Fredericton Public Library includes everything from language classes, and hands-on craft demonstrations to live music performances and ongoing events in their in-house maker space. Next month, the library will also host performances as part of the Shivering Songs 2017 lineup.
“We of course still lend out books, books on CD, DVDs, CDs, book clubs in a bag, Playaways, eResources such as Rosetta Stone, Canadian Red Book, Red Book, Career Cruising and Gale Business Plans Handbook,” said Nash, “and have thousands of eBooks available to download, all with your library card.”
To learn more about what’s happening, visit the Fredericton Public Library online for complete event listings.
