CAMARILLO : Guest Readers Enliven Library Story Hours

Four-year-old Jena Losch just couldn’t stop dancing. She spun in circles, her long brown hair flying in every direction, her black leather shoes pounding on the floor.

For Jena, who wants to be a dancer when she grows up, Wednesday’s regular story hour at the Camarillo Library offered a special surprise--three Ventura County performers reading, and in some cases romping, to their favorite tales.

The hourlong event was part of National Library Week and the American Library Assn.’s Day of 1,000 Stars, a nationwide storytelling program in which local residents read aloud to children.

This is the fourth year the Ventura County Library Services Agency has participated in the event, which featured guest readers at two county libraries.

“It’s to get the message out (about) how important reading is for children,” said Trish Cavanaugh, volunteer community relations manager for Library Services. “What a wonderfully nurturing thing it is to have someone reading to you. It’s a reminder of what books do for us.”

In Ventura, at the Avenue Library, Ventura College basketball Coach Phil Mathews and players Brandon Jessie and Joey Ramirez read to 25 third- and fourth-grade students from Sheridan Way Elementary School.

In Camarillo, dancer-choreographer Patsy Swayze, singer Lee Orgel and writer-actor Rex Waggoner read to a group of about 25 preschoolers.

“There’s lots and lots of books about dancing,” Swayze told the group of children huddled around her. “And I’m going to talk about girls and boys and animals that dance.”

Swayze, mother of actor Patrick Swayze, read from a book called “Moondance,” a story about a dancing bear. After the story, the Simi Valley resident directed the squirming youngsters through a series of dance exercises.

Swayze said she volunteered as a storyteller because she believes children need to be exposed to literature.

“I feel it opens a lot of doors that may not have been opened otherwise,” she said. “And because they watch too much TV . . . they need to know another form of entertainment.”

The children and parents in attendance enjoyed the special program, which was scheduled during the library’s weekly storytelling hour.

Seven-year-old Joey Schuberg said he wasn’t thrilled with the hopping around but liked the story about the bear, especially the part where “he danced in the rain and did all those cartwheels and stuff.”

Somis resident and former preschool teacher Beth Miller volunteers at the Camarillo Library by reading stories to children three times a month. Since budget cutbacks have eliminated storytelling by librarians, Miller said, the guest speakers were a treat for the kids.

“It’s a really positive experience for them,” she said. “Any type of storytelling that brings parents and children together is great.”