STORY CENTRES
Storytelling Special
TELL ME A STORY Technology has become second nature to many young people, but
children’s literature centres are more popular than ever as they work to stop traditional storytelling ever becoming a lost art
Catherine Larner, journalist, Attractions Management W 54
hether it’s listening to a joke or hearing an after- dinner talk, scanning a newspaper or reading a novel, we all love a story. Early memories of being
read to as a child by a parent or teacher are among the most powerful. While the pace of technology means stories can be delivered today in a multitude of ways, there’s still nothing to match the magic of opening the pages of a book, sitting at the feet of a storyteller or stepping inside a theatre (whatever our age). The model for story centres and
children’s literature venues hasn’t changed signifi cantly since they were fi rst introduced around 20 years ago – but they have never been so popular. “I think it’s because life is so techy,”
says Cathy Agnew, project director of Peter Pan Moat Brae – the place where JM Barrie conceived Neverland – due to open in Dumfries, Scotland, in 2017. “We want person-to-person contact. There’s nothing more comforting than having someone read to you, that one-to-one engagement.”
“Bells and whistles have their place,”
according to Ruth Weyman, who works alongside a team of “story builders” who lead a variety of events at Discover Children’s Story Centre in London. “But, there’s nothing as challenging or
rewarding as being able to interact with a child when you’re telling them a story.” Visitor fi gures for these venues are
growing year on year. Centres are expanding their reach through touring exhibitions; book clubs, book festivals and events at bookshops are thriving and new storytelling facilities are opening. Internationally, there’s a great collaboration of resources and expertise.
CHANGE IN STATUS
“There’s been a change in the status of children’s literature in the cultural landscape,” says Kate Edwards, CEO of Seven Stories in Newcastle, England. Opened in 2005, Seven Stories is
perhaps one of the key contributing factors to this growth in the sector. Attracting 80,000 visits a year, it’s housed in a converted Victorian warehouse and
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was the idea of two forward-thinking women who had long championed children’s literature locally through their jobs in education and bookselling. Their vision was to establish an archive of work from children’s writers and illustrators in the modern period. “There was no organisation which saw its role as saving and celebrating the literary heritage for children,” Edwards says. Focusing on original material from the
1930s onwards, Seven Stories is a national and international resource, loaning its exhibitions to numerous venues across the world. Its seven fl oors house galleries for exhibitions, performance and creative spaces, a children’s bookshop and café. “Look at the popular arts, fi lm and theatre and you’ll see children’s literature plays a huge role in driving the cultural economy. But we also hold the fi rm belief that children’s books change lives; we believe they bring about better life chances,” she says. Edwards acknowledges that the change
in use of libraries, which have fallen in number as a consequence of our shift
AM 4 2014 ©Cybertrek 2014
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