Frequently Asked Questions

Our volunteer readers come from all backgrounds and age groups, from students and seniors to professionals on their lunch breaks. Bilingual readers are able to provide multi-lingual storytime experience and also provide the needed language support at many centers where children are English language learners.

Our volunteers read aloud to children in partnering preschools throughout Oakland. Each volunteer does a weekly 20-25 minute storytime at an assigned preschool.

Volunteers must be 18 years of age or older.

Volunteers visit an assigned preschool once a week for a 20–25 minute storytime. We ask for a 6-month commitment, which gives you enough time to get to know a classroom of kids and their teachers and to see how excited they get when you walk through the door each week.

Storytimes take place during school hours (weekdays, generally 9am - 3pm).

Volunteers complete a training series, which takes place over six weekday mornings and one full Saturday in the fall.

We cover many topics in the training, all focused on how to create a fun and engaging storytime. The training is conducted by the Oakland Public Library's Children's Librarians, so they each bring a wealth of experience and creativity to the topics they cover, and the training is super fun!