Hospital Outreach Storytimes

About the Program

Category: Libraries (Best in Category)

Year: 2015

The Salt Lake County Library system partnered with the Salt Lake City Library system and Primary Children’s Hospital to provide storytimes at the hospital. This storytime is broadcast on hospital room televisions and open for children in the playroom. The long term goals of this partnership have focused on strengthening our relationship with our sister library, the City Library system, and our ties to the health community, through the hospital. Additionally we sought to connect with and offer services to children in long-term care at the hospital, a population with limited access to library resources. The program began in March 2014. We currently offer two storytimes a month, one presented by the City Library, the other by the County Library. The storytimes are presented by librarians in the hospital program room, and are broadcast using a live feed to TV’s visible from all of the hospital’s 289 beds. When a survey was completed by the hospital in September, it was discovered that the storytimes are incredibly popular with an average of 25 televisions turned on during each program. We feel we met our goals in strengthening relationships, and are providing a service that is beloved and appreciated by the children at the hospital.