Jean has been involved with storytelling since 1985 which is when she took a class in Puppetry and Storytelling for her Masters degree in Library Science. She has had a lifelong love affair with books which explains why after she retired from a library career, which included being a school librarian then working for the public library, she went back to work part-time, in a library. She said that it’s the books and the stories they hold that keeps her returning to the library.
Though she characterizes herself as more of a story listener than a storyteller nowadays she continues to be staunch supporter of storytelling. She said she joined MO-TELL because that is one of the ways she could continue to support storytelling today. Her favorite types of stories are the traditional tales: Folktales, Fairytales, Nursery Rhymes, and stories from Classical Literature.
When asked about the future of storytelling she said she was worried about a lack of cultural literacy today. That today’s children are not being told those traditional tales by their parents. She said especially lacking are nursery rhymes which are important because they can engage a child’s imagination at a very young age.
While storytelling faces many challenges today from a world that oftentimes seems too busy to listen to a story, with continuing supporters such as Jean it will continue to be an important part of our future.
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