Valleywide : Stories to be Told in Sign Language
Reaching out to families with hearing-impaired children, the Los Angeles Public Library will offer three storytelling sessions with sign language interpreters at San Fernando Valley branches in the next several weeks.
“This is the first organized attempt to do a preschool story hour with an interpreter,” said Anne Connor, a coordinator with the Children’s Services Department. She said that interpreters had attended library events on a sporadic basis in the past.
The first session will take place Wednesday at the Northridge Branch Library, 9051 Darby Ave. The remaining sessions are scheduled for Oct. 18 at the Platt Branch Library, 23600 Victory Blvd., Woodland Hills, and Nov. 8 at the West Valley Regional Branch Library, 19036 Vanowen St., Reseda.
Alana Gold, a library volunteer and former teacher of the deaf, will translate the tales into sign language during the 30-minute sessions. Connor said the stories will also be read aloud.
“It’s suitable to all kids, hearing and non-hearing,” she said, explaining that the sessions are aimed at children 3 to 6.
Connor said the three Valley events, which begin at 6:30 p.m., are an experiment and that the library is hoping it can be continued “in some form,” she said.
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