On the cold, but sunny afternoon of Jan. 10, families from across Chicago’s suburbs arrived at the Niles Public Library’s main meeting room.
Young kids gathered around librarian Vlada Bernhardtz as she got ready to read “Bark, George” by Jules Feiffer. The book was in English. But Bernharditz read it in Russian – and most of the kids listened intently.
For the past two years, the Niles library has organized Russian Storytimes – quarterly events where Russian-American kids get to listen to Russian-language stories, sing Russian-language songs, do crafts and get some snacks. The event is part of the library’s World Language Storytimes program, which also includes Storytimes in Polish, Serbian, Hindi and Korean.
Parents at the Jan. 10 event said they’ve been very pleased with the program. In fact, it proved to be so popular that the library increased the frequency of the event to once every two months.
The World Language Storytimes program has been around for the past six years. It started with a Polish-language Storytime. As Bernharditz explained, adding Storytimes in other languages isn’t easy.
“The difficulty has been twofold: finding someone not only comfortable with children but also skilled with doing this sort of programming,” she said. “In addition to that, it has become clear that different groups have different levels of interest in attending this type of program.”
Russian Storytimes started two years ago, when Bernharditz became one of the library’ children’s librarian. As a native Russian speaker and a professional storyteller, she was a logical person to start the program.
The program started slow, but it wasn’t long before it gained steam.
“The first Russian Storytime was attended by only one family, but the attendance has been consistently growing since then,” Bernharditz said. “The [September 2014] Storytime was attended by 22 people.”
According to Bernharditz and parents at the Jan. 10 event, some of the growth is due to word of mouth. Marianna Levin, a regular for more than a year, proudly told Bernharditz that she told four families about the program.
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The library has also advertised the event on its bulletin boards and purchased ads in Reklama, a free weekly Russian-language newspaper distributed throughout Chicagoland. The ads, Bernharditz said, usually attract between one to three new children every time.
While many of the families that attended the Jan. 10 event were from Niles, others came from Wilmette, Des Plaines, Glenview and Buffalo Grove.
Each Storytime is divided into two halves – the reading portion and the crafts portion. Each time, Bernharditz does something different.
“The chosen books for each Storytime have to have a diversity of subjects, characters and issues,” she said. “When it comes to choosing crafts, I try to tie them to the current season or a universal holiday like Valentine’s Day.”
In addition to “Bark, George,” Bernharditz read read other two books during the Jan. 10 Russian Storytime: “Good Night Baby Bear” by Frank Asch and “Waddles” by David McPhail.
The readings were interactive. While reading “Bark, George,” a story about a puppy who couldn’t bark, Bernharditz asked kids which animals said what.
During the crafts portion, kids decorated circles made out of paper plates with winter-themed objects such such as snowmen.
Parents praised for the event. Levin praised Bernharditz’s skills as a storyteller.
“Vlada runs those events very well,” she said. “She is very charismatic and she knows how to keep kids engaged.”
Levin also offered praise for the Niles library.
“[The other parents and I] are glad that the library listened to us and added more Storytimes,” she said.
Leonid Povarazonyuk, of Glenview, came to the event with his wife and his granddaughter, Alexandra. He said the event was well worth traveling to another town.
“It isn’t that far,” he said. “Just down Milwaukee Avenue.”
The Jan. 10 Storytime even earned praise from the one family that didn’t speak Russian. Shelli Villalobos, of Niles, said that she tries to expose her daughter to other cultures. And while she didn’t realize the event would involve virtually no English, she said she didn’t regret attending.
“My 5-year-old sat there listening for several minutes straight,” said Villalobos. “I don’t think she would pay that much attention to an English-language book. I think she was intrigued.”
She said being immersed in another language was good for her daughter.
“I think it’s good for kids to experience other cultures and hear other languages,” said Villalobos.