A Small Audience

 It was raining torrentially when I went for my storytelling session at the branch library a few days ago. I told myself to mentally prepare for zero audience. Over the years (15 years to be exact ) audience has dwindled from over 30 children when I first started in 2008 to literally a handful ie. 5 or 6 when the session resumes after Covid.  

An article published in the ST entitled " Millennials loved libraries, but will their kids feel the same way?" stated that visitors to the National Library network in Singapore showed a drop from 26.7 million in 2019 to 11.5 million in 2021. However one can not ascribe the drop entirely to Covid disruption. The author mentioned other factors including loss of print reading, free e-books and increased channels for children entertainment like Disney and YouTube, making it a relative hassle to visit the library. It is then not surprising that our libraries have to be creative in staging fun activities to engage visitors. I was invited for a tour to the new regional library at Punggol recently. In collaboration with Smithsonian, the library created a space for children to tinkle with new ideas using various gadgets and crafts. The story telling room also has facilities for the story teller to project images on all 4 sides of the wall. 

Back to that rainy afternoon a couple of days ago. I stepped into the library inside the old  shopping mall and headed to the children section to see whether there were any kids who could be rounded up as my audience. There was none! In dismay I proceeded to the storytelling room to make preparation still. "Hello" a sweet little voice called out to me. It was the 6 year old girl, the sister of the 8 year old boy who told me he loved listening to my stories. I had then responded jokingly that he has to keep coming or I will have no audience. Then I saw the boy and the helper who brought them here. The helper told me the boy insisted on coming despite the rain. I told myself these 2 little fans of mine deserved a medal. Well he even helped me round up a few other fillers who were loitering around.

After my visit to the new library I had toyed with the idea of jumping ship to volunteer there instead. The new library is situated at a new housing estate with many young families, whilst the demographics at the old branch library I am with has changed hence attracting less visits from young readers. When sharing this idea with my son he had asked why I even needed a large audience and isn't there more engagement with a smaller audience. In retrospect it is true there is a lot of interaction with my 2 little fans at the present library . I think why he likes to come for my session is not only because I can tell the stories well but more of how I respond to his remarks and comments with gusto and delight. 

Yes it is natural to want bigger audience. People want more 'likes' in their facebook post and more followers in their blog. However, with a small audience there is more connection to each individual,  like the 5 children that attended my story telling session that afternoon. As I told my story, I watched how their little faces emote with sadness, wonder and relief. I marveled at the boy's imaginative guesses of how the story will develop and shared subtly the moral of the story. We engaged joyfully.

It was indeed a heartwarming rainy afternoon.