Round Rock Library

Round Rock Public Library been doing online storytimes for a year now.

During the pandemic, several book publishers offered special permissions to allow our librarians to read books online.

Staff members have favored books and activities that are allowed to remain posted for the longest possible time, so families in Round Rock can access a short storytime experience at a just-right time.

Storytime videos are published every week on the City of Round Rock YouTube channel, as well as on the Library’s Facebook and Instagram pages (usually as IGTV).

These storytime videos include:

• Babytime Buzz, featuring Miss Virginia and activities for babies and toddlers alongside their caregivers. New videos are released on Thursday mornings. See the entire Babytime Buzz playlist
• Pause & Play, featuring Ms. Jane and Ms. Andrea, with books, songs, and activities for toddlers and preschoolers. New videos are released Wednesday mornings. See the entire Pause & Play playlist
• Videos we can no longer share publicly, but we can offer our guests less-accessible links 

Most videos are 4 – 7 minutes long.

But wait, there’s more!

Last fall, staff realized that these online videos are a perfect opportunity to bring in a variety of voices from the community. You can enjoy a series of bonus videos celebrating special days and months with guest presenters.

And for the DIY crowd…

The Youth Services team has also been developing Storytime At Home kits, to help grownups develop themed storytimes for the toddlers and preschoolers in their lives. 

At the Storytime At Home website, you can download handouts for all of our themes! We have 10 themes so far, covering everything from colors, dinosaurs, and pets to a celebration of Black authors and illustrators. 

The handouts will give you ideas for games, songs, and resources. You’ll also find links to extensive lists of our best stories, poetry, joke books, informational books, and DVDs for each theme.

Or, when you visit the library, you’ll find the handouts and sets of books and DVDs for three themes on display–just look on top of the E-DVD shelves!

And you can browse all of the lists of materials in the online catalog, any where, any time. Start browsing here