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Library takes Books To Kids

News - Linn County News

Written by Kevin Gray

Wednesday, 24 June 2009 08:00

Although most children visit the library to check out books or attend special events during the summer, not all kids are able to work around the library’s schedule.

Percussionist storyteller Cory Hills helps the Barnett family — including mom Peaceful, Melinzie and Raeanne — with a zarb drum from Iran during his show at the La Cygne Lake shelter. (Photo by Kevin Gray)

To remedy this fact of life, Library District No. 2 of Linn County has begun a Library on the Road program.

“Our goal is to meet the needs of those kids who can’t always come to town, but who will still check out books, if we take the books to them,” said Janet Reynolds, director of the library, which is at 209 N. Broadway St. in La Cygne.

Doubling the fun last Thursday, the library brought percussionist storyteller Cory Hills, a University of Kansas doctoral student in music, along for performances at La Cygne Lake and Linn Valley Lakes.

“Besides spending time with our Library on the Road program, Cory also performed at the library in La Cygne for 75 this morning, and we made a surprise stop at the La Cygne Senior Center,” Reynolds said. “Over the last two weeks, we’ve had some really creative and fun things going on through the library, and this is just another example after only two weeks with the summer reading program under way.”
Hills described his performance as a mix of two stories — one he wrote himself and light motifs using percussion instruments to help character narrative and movement.
“I play instruments, and I tell stories, so I put them all together,” Hills said.

Among the instruments he used were wood blocks, cowbells, a shaker, a tambourine, cymbals, a ratchet, a few gongs, a triangle, bells and a zarb drum from Iran.

“There is no singing, just telling stores and using the instruments to add interesting twists to the narrative. The fun part of playing percussion is the ability to always change,” Hills said.

He used two stories, one about a hard-to-pull turnip (“The Turnip” by Aleksei Tolstoy) and the other an original story of his own called “The Lost Bicycle,” about a little boy who goes in search of his missing bicycle.

“When I tell the story, I use light motifs to help represent a character or a movement. When I mention Mother Earth, I strike the bells, the wood blocks for the boy and pouring water stands for the sound of the rushing river,” Hills said.

He explained to the children he saw Thursday that he wrote the story first, then picked the instruments and assigned them to the characters.

Accessible Arts
The Barnett family of Linn Valley Lakes had a conflict with the scheduled time for Hills’ performance Thursday afternoon in their neighborhood.
“I did not want to miss this performance ... so we drove down here,” said Peaceful Barnett, who brought her children Raeanne, Praelie, Braeah and baby Melinzie to La Cygne Lake.

Reynolds said that is the point of Library on the Road.

“People are busy, and this makes for excellent outreach,” she said. “Not everybody can meet in our normal locations, so we bring the library to the people. This way, the children can keep on reading during the summer. And, now that we’ve broken the ice, and more people realize what we’re doing, the program should grow.”

Reynolds said a grandmother from La Cygne who had heard her grandchildren talking about Hills’ performance that morning in La Cygne drove to Linn Valley Lakes to see the show for herself.

“This is also what this program is all about,” she said.

Lena Corriston said she and her husband camp out at Linn Valley Lakes for much of the summer. During that time, granddaughters Tiffany and Christina of Rich Hill, Mo., spend a lot of time with them.

“The library coming out here is a good thing, and in this program, the girls can learn about different cultures,” Corriston said.
Hills — who is originally from Springfield, Va., attended Northwestern University in Chicago and has worked on his music in Australia and Italy — lives in Lawrence with his wife, who is working on a doctorate in evolutionary biology. For more information about Hills, go online to www.coryhills.com or call (773) 332-7576.

Library on the Road story times are 2:45 p.m. at the La Cygne Lake shelter house near the marina and 4 p.m. at the Linn Valley Lakes clubhouse. Scheduled dates are Thursday and July 2, 9, 16 and 23.

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