Miss Kate or, as she’s best known online, The Lavender Librarian, is an openly autistic children’s librarian based in South Western Ontario.
Welcome to Storytime Solidarity!
In July 2021 when Storytime Underground announced that they were archiving their group. A lovely human suggested I start my own group.
The Facebook group quickly grew to nearly 6k members! I found myself surrounded by a diverse community of library workers and creatives. Together we’re able to do more than I had dared to imagine!
I’m so grateful to all who have joined me to provide resources, insight, and support for Storytimers all over the world and the families we all serve!
¡Hola!
Mi nombre es Señorita Rosie y mi origen es colombiana/estadounidense. Soy primera generación, lo que significa que mi familia emigró a los Estados Unidos y yo nací en Chicago, IL. Mi carrera bibliotecaria está dedicada a los niños, los programas multiculturales y la diversidad. Estoy muy feliz de ser parte de este increíble grupo de personas.
My name is Miss Rosie and my background is Colombian/American. I am first generation, which means my family immigrated to the United States. I was born in Chicago, IL. My first language is Spanish and I strive to give my library community authentic and diverse programs, especially in Spanish. I am so happy to be a part of Storytime Solidarity and this incredible group of people.
Books have been my universe since I was very little. Books helped me learn English, my librarian at my branch was my super hero, and the world was mine to explore! I worked for 16 years at an Indie Children’s Bookstore in Oak Park and discovered my calling as a librarian. I have an LTA. I have been a Youth Services librarian for 9 years. My specialty is early childhood, multicultural programs, and Spanish Language Specialist. I was also an Outreach librarian for 7 years. It was the best time. I visited the Preschools and Daycares in the area and local businesses and brought storytime (bilingual or English) into the community. I am in charge of Spanish Collection Development for my library.
I have been a regular reviewer for Booklist Magazine for 8 years. You can check out my reviews for Children’s Fiction and Non-Fiction books, and Spanish Language books (all ages).
Hello! Hallo! 你好 Nǐ hǎo!
My name is Ingrid Christina (she/they) and I am thrilled to be a part of Storytime Solidarity. I am a bi-cultural, multilingual, queer, and ND mom and spouse — all of which inform how I engage with the world every day.
Currently, I am working as an early literacy and language teacher on Outschool, where I have achieved “ACE Educator” status and earned 150 five-star reviews. Previously, I worked for seven years in the children’s department of a large public library, where I was known system-wide for my storytimes and multilingual programs.
I am the founder and creator of Sing, Rhyme, and Play with Ms. Christina, a YouTube channel for all ages and an online curriculum for ages 3-10. My new, original songs and rhymes are for librarians, teachers, caregivers, and kids to enjoy together. My spouse, Ryan McCoy — painter, professor, and visual designer — handles everything for Sing, Rhyme, and Play regarding cameras, sound, lighting, editing, and coffee. All Sing, Rhyme, and Play content is free to use for educational purposes and free from harmful origins.
We are excited about the work Storytime Solidarity is doing to make the world more welcoming and inclusive for everyone. And we look forward to helping you boost your story times, circle times, and all other times together with your kids!
Mihimihi (brief biography):
Tēnā koutou kua huihui mai nei
(Hello to all gathered here)
E mihi ana ki ngā mana whenua
(Greetings to the indigenous people of the land)
Nō Airangi me Ingarangi ōku tīpuna
(My ancestors came from Ireland and England)
I tipu ake ahau ki Opanuku
(I grew up in Henderson, Auckland)
Ko Anne tōku ingoa
(My name is Anne)
E mahi ana ahau hei poukōkiri
(I work as a Senior Librarian, Children and Youth)
Ki Pātaka Kōrero o Awaroa
(At Helensville Library)
Nō reira, tēnā koutou katoa
(Once again, hello to you all)
I’ve worked at Auckland Libraries (or Auckland City Libraries before the ‘supercity’ amalgamation in 2010) since forever – 1997 from memory.
I have worked in variations of children and youth services throughout this time.
My first paid library job was as a sole charge library assistant in a boys Catholic secondary school (from intermediate to end of school, so years 7 to 13).
I love picture books! I enjoy storytime. My favourite thing EVER is spending time with children.
We often say that our unofficial job title is ‘Auntie’ – we offer love, support, encouragement, and the occasional telling off, to our community. Having been an actual aunt since I was seven, and a great-aunt at 29, it’s true to say that Auntie Anne is a large part of my identity.
When studying for my MLS in the dim distant past (1998ish) my research project was an annotated bibliography of books about death and grief for children and teens, and for adults supporting them. Since then, I have experimented with various ways to make my work more accessible – and to add to the original body of work. I now have A Loving Left With Me up and running (in its current form.) Any suggestions/feedback welcome!
Rose (better known as “Ms.Rose”) has the joy of connecting with libraries, educators, children, and families with her music programs, Ukulele Storytime and Ukulele Storytime Youtube Tutorials, both in person and virtually. She created Ukulele Storytime on Youtube to teach and inspire educators, storytime providers, and, well, everyone, to play ukulele for children! She also performs original children’s music as a solo artist and with her band, Ms. Rose & The Rosie Posies.
Since becoming a full-time Children’s Library Specialist by day and Children’s Singer/Songwriter/Performer as a super side gig, Rose aspires to bring diversity to storytimes and youth programs, while broadening Asian, Pacific Islander, and Native Hawaiian representation to the library community and children’s music. Her homepage can be found at roseoyamot.com.
Elizabeth Pereira (she/her) is an artist and educator who loves working with children of all ages. By day she is a library programmer and by night she is a vocalist and performer.
Previously, Elizabeth was the Education Coordinator for Carousel Players, a theatre company for young audiences. During this time, she launched a unique early years pilot program that introduced literacy skills to children and their parents/guardians through drama. She is passionate about providing accessible, meaningful arts-based experiences to the community which support children’s overall development and wellness.
Mychal Threets grew up in libraries as a homeschool kid. He got his first library card at age five, and has loved them ever since. He is a former Children’s Librarian for Solano County Library, and currently works there as a Supervising Librarian.
Known for his kindness, thoughtfulness, and enthusiasm. Mr. Mychal has recently gone viral and now has over 120k followers on Instagram and has been featured in The Solano County Reporter. We at Storytime Solidarity cannot image a better ambassador for our profession and are so grateful that Mychal has joined us in Solidarity.
Mx. Stefanie is a Canadian graphic designer, writer, educator, and curriculum writer. She holds a BA in Creative Writing and Visual Arts (2006), and a B.Ed (2008). An experienced classroom teacher, she finds that her greatest gift and passion is curriculum development. Today she is a freelance curriculum developer and is a popular creator on Teachers Pay Teachers.
Stefanie is a lifelong learner with a passion for continuing learning having taken many courses in LGBTQ+ outreach and culturally responsive pedagogy. She is a passionate advocate for youth who have been traditionally excluded, and is always looking for new ways to improve her corner of the world. Her business Rainbow Heart Education focuses on affirming every child and helping them better understand the world around them. She has been a volunteer with Girl Guides of Canada since 2006.
When not working on graphic design projects, teaching, or writing, Mx. Stefanie can be found walking her two dogs Bolt and Nova, listening to audiobooks, crocheting, or maintaining her daily artistic practice. She is delighted to join the Storytime Solidarity team where, for the first time, she looks less like Ms. Frizzle than her colleagues!
Adam Katz (he/him), PhD is a writer, editor and teacher. He finished his doctoral program in 2019 at Stony Brook University, specializing in 16th-17th century English epic poetry.
His own website, 2RulesOfWriting.com, which he runs with Erika Grumet, publishes writing from around the world. Adam’s short fiction has been published in Spoonie Press and will soon be published in the Academy Forum of the American Academy of Psychodynamic Psychiatry and Psychoanalysis.
He has taught literature classes at Stony Brook University. Some hobbies include cooking and playing piano. And he occasionally writes poetry. But only when absolutely sure no one is looking.
Rebekah “Bex” Borucki is a biracial autistic mother-to-five, grandmother-to-one, self-help and children’s author, and the Founder and President of Row House, Wheat Penny Press, and the WPP Little Readers Big Change Initiative, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit delivering literacy programming to K-12 students in underestimated school districts and grants to Black and Brown creatives and booksellers.
Borucki is driven by a commitment to make wellness, personal-development, self-learning, and literacy tools available to all and to help others recover the liberation stolen from them by white supremacy. She lives with her family in New Jersey.
Zapoura Newton-Calvert has been facilitating composition and community-based learning courses focused on social justice in education since 2004 and is an Assistant Teaching Professor at Portland State University. Participating in the practices of emergent strategy (as described in adrienne maree brown’s book of the same name), her teaching is relational and responsive to political, social, and environmental changes. Her primary work is supporting community in creating and utilizing anti-racist curriculum. She has partnered with organizations such as the Children’s Book Bank, Libraries for Liberation, Teaching for Change, and Portland Public Schools and has facilitated workshops on anti-racist teaching and learning over the last eight years.
In 2016, Zapoura and her husband Farnell Newton co-founded Reading Is Resistance, an organization that creates monthly anti-oppression curriculum for families, teachers, and anyone else interested in justice-centered practice to use children’s books to start important conversations about identity, diversity, justice, and activism.
Newton-Calvert is the descendant of white immigrants from Italy and Sweden, mixed European white settler colonists, and Ojibwe. In 1900, her great-grandmother and great-aunts were removed from their family and forced to attend the Morris Indian Industrial School. Zapoura was raised within predominantly white cultural beliefs and practices and experiences the world as a white-bodied person. She acknowledges this positionality has very real repercussions and impacts in her classroom, parenting, and community work. It is her belief that it’s important to the integrity of her core self and work to be an explicitly anti-racist, liberation-centered educator and parent. Holding a balance between personal and ancestral responsibility within multiple identities has been an important part of her work as an educator and person.
Little Miss Ann is a Chicago-based, Filipina-American, nationally touring kids musician who has made 7 award-winning Family Music albums.
She is also a former Chicago Public School teacher, an instructor at Chicago’s iconic Old Town School of Folk Music, a social justice activist, and a first generation Filipina American.
Whether Ann is singing about Ube, a Filipino purple yam, or the 606, a landmark trail in Chicago, her musical themes will inspire kids to let their own light shine in their own families as well as in their communities!
Erika Grumet (she/her or they/them), MSW has two kids, two degrees, two cats, six-and-a-half disabilities, and one website.
Erika majored in library science at Long Island University before getting her masters degree in social work, focusing on sexual assault and reproductive health. You can find her work on Kveller.com and in Lilith Magazine.
Also on her homepage, 2rulesofwriting.com, which she co-founded with Adam Katz, and where she writes about issues of sexuality, consent, physical disability, neurodivergence, how to write, why to write, and what it feels like to be continually disappointed by her adopted hometown of Orlando.
She also makes poems.
Billy Allen is the founder of 3kingvisions, a brand that is committed to fostering a love of reading in children. Billy is also the Branch Manager at Whitney Library for the Las Vegas Clark County Library District!! Billy is an Air Force veteran and a librarian with a Master’s Degree of Library Science from North Carolina Central University. He has a strong passion for helping children develop the love of reading, and believes that reading is a crucial skill for children to develop at an early age.
Through his animated story-time program, Billy showcases children’s books through entertainment, songs, and finger-plays. This program is designed to engage and inspire young readers, and to help them develop a lifelong love of reading. In addition to his storytimes, Billy is dedicated to giving back to his community and spreading a positive light on reading. He is committed to promoting the importance of reading and its ability to enrich people’s lives.
Aya Khalil is the award-winning author of The Arabic Quilt: An Immigrant Story, which is an NCTE’s Charlotte Huck Award Recommended Book and the winner of the Arab American Book Award, among other honors. She’s the author of the forthcoming books: Our World: Egypt, The Night Before Eid, and The Banned Books Bake Sale.
Aya holds a master’s degree in education and works as a freelance journalist, whose articles have been featured in The Huffington Post and Brit & Co., among other publications. She immigrated from Egypt to the United States when she was young and currently lives with her partner and three children in Northwest Ohio. Aya invites you to visit her online at: ayakhalil.com
Hi, I’m Wendy! I was a preschool teacher for just about 25 years.
Most important to me as a teacher: A deep respect for children. And building strong and caring relationships with and between them.
Also front and center: Getting messy with paint, glue, and dirt; sitting on the floor with a pile of kids and a pile of books; and romping around singing at the top of our lungs. At least once per day. But usually, a lot more than that.
Sitting on the floor for 25 years can take its toll, and I retired from teaching in 2018 to create FlannelBoardFun.com (and YouTube.com/FlannelBoardFun.)
Both exist for extremely busy, too-much-on-their-plates preschool teachers and librarians.
My multi-use felt board sets help get kids (and educators) engaged and having fun. The songs I write are mostly “piggybacks.” They’re easy to learn, set to familiar tunes, and have non-racist roots.
The early learning aspects are a bonus, all disguised as play. My videos provide simple demonstrations so educators new and old(er) can get a little instruction or inspiration when they need it.
I love what Storytime Solidarity stands for. I’ve learned a lot from the team and from all the conversations happening on the Facebook group. I’m grateful to have my songs included here.
Now please–go sing, romp, and play!
Maisie Soetantyo is a late-diagnosed openly autistic curriculum designer and inclusivity trainer, founder of Guiding Extraordinary Minds (GEM) and Autism Career Pathways 501c3. She is dedicated to educating others about neurodiversity, neurodivergence, and how to help everyone thrive together.
Through her training events, Maisie provides resources and tools for parents, professionals, educators, and workplaces to support autistic/neurodivergent individuals to be their best selves.
\Maisie’s professional background in psychology and relationship-based approaches, as well as her lived experiences, guides her to help others support neurodivergent individuals with respect, compassion, and curiosity.
Regina Townsend is the Head of Youth Services at a suburban Chicago library, where she’s all about creating awesome spaces for kids and teens to learn, grow, and feel heard. With a passion for connecting young people and adults in meaningful ways, she’s on a mission to make the library a welcoming hub for the community.
As an infertility advocate, she also provides support and resources to those navigating reproductive health challenges, turning tough moments into opportunities for hope and empowerment.
Regina is fueled by kindness, creativity, and community service. Outside of the library, you’ll find her gaming, museum-hopping, and spending quality time with her favorite people—her husband, Jahbari, and son, Judah.
CS is big fan of public libraries! He believes in the work we’re doing at Storytime Solidarity and is the reason our website looks so gorgeous. He’s also the one who fixes our mistakes.
When asked how he’d like to be credited he shared this:
