Intention and the Unexpected: Manifesting the Storytelling Librarian’s Goals

Abstract

Telling stories to children requires planning and creativity. With thorough plans and tools, the storyteller librarian intends to benefit children.

However, what often occurs during storytime is ultimately not in the librarian’s control. One can hope storytime goes well, but transforming that hope into a manifested outcome begins with intention. Intention is a means of activating our will and creativity to do what is necessary to accomplish goals. Setting intentions for dealing with the unexpected includes what we desire to happen. This helps create a type of container for storytime that includes skills, tools, and desires.

Here I’ll explain how to work with intention in ways that benefit the storyteller librarian, referred to in this article as storyteller.