@ the library

Everybody has a story to tell. We talk about our day, tell a story with a funny ending, tell a story with a moral, listening to the responses, we subtly change the story to play to the expectations of the audience. We tweak and listen to our own story unfolding in our mind day to day, even night after night in our very dreams.
The stories we hear provide a key to understanding the events in our own lives and the lives of the world we occupy. Stories allow us to connect to our families and to the community, past and present. In fact, the stories that we tell and hear are likely the same story that has been told over and over for as long as there has been language.
The airwaves are inundated with stories. Stories groomed to fit in between slick commercial interruptions. Stories designed to hold your attention using psychological profiles tried and tested over audiences again and again. Your attention held so the audience is certain to return, otherwise the commercial sponsors will drop the story like a hot potato. These stories over the airwaves or broadband are cleverly produced to hold the individual’s attention for the sake of the sponsor. The story’s success is measured through the statistics of audience return.
The elephant in the room, the missing element in the way, which we are used to receiving our stories, is the group. Ah, the audience is there over the airwaves, but you never see them, maybe a canned response or two that will help the individual to understand this scene is funny or shocking, but the real connection of the story is missing. The meaning that lies hidden in the story is partially gleaned from the audience interaction. Watching the reactions of others lends credibility and interest to the story.
For years, libraries have understood the importance of nurturing a love of stories in the very young. At the Radford Public Library, the children’s story time is one of the most successful programs within our walls. With this in mind, the library has begun a story program for the adults in the community on Wednesday evenings at 6:30. Since this is National Library Week the library is celebrating by not charging fines on overdue materials and as always, encouraging reading. I’ll read from selections of stories, whether you are there or not, without commercial interruptions, someone will hear. Just walk in.
Reconnect. Refresh. Read.