Editorial Story: International common ground in school librarianship

Abstract

The lure of the story is what often attracts us to the profession of school librarianship. Early childhood memories of hearing stories at bedtime and around the campfire, being read to, attending story times in the public and school library, and choosing and owning our first books, are powerful and enduring. Listening to stories even has the capacity to alter our consciousness and place us in what researcher Brian Sturm (1999) calls a "storytelling trance." Simple storytelling, with its origins in primiti ve times, can form a foundation for an interest in reading and lifelong learning.