The Willow Glen Resident Photograph by Skye Dunlap Off the Page: Ashley Elson, 8, and Andrew Elson, 6, perk up their ears while Genie Bernardini reads. Performing reader seeks senior citizens for troupe Series of radio plays inspired Almaden woman to help bring children's stories to life By Michelle Ku Genie Bernardini has a vision. She would love nothing more than to read books aloud while surrounded by children enchanted with the story she is telling. To realize this vision, Bernardini is forming a troupe of seniors to read stories to children. "I like the idea of getting young people and older people together," Bernardini says. "I thought it would be good for people on both ends." Since June, Bernardini has been making inquiries at libraries and bookstores, including Hicklebee's Children's Books, about the possibility of establishing a regular storytime for children once her group is organized. Monica Holmes, co-owner of Hicklebee's, says she is responsive to the idea of scheduling some storytimes for such a group. "It sounds to me like a great idea," Holmes says. "As long as they are interested in sharing stories with children, it has to be only beneficial to the children." Hicklebee's does not have a routinely scheduled storytime year-round, but the bookstore does have some storytimes during the summer and in December. In December, the bookstore invites children to come in wearing their pajamas, Holmes says. Bernardini, an Almaden resident, says she has been thinking of creating a reading troupe since the summer of 1997. That summer, she worked on some radio plays for children. The group wrote two radio plays and recorded them using music and sound effects at the radio station at San Jose State University. The plays were eventually aired on KKUP, a nonprofit radio station in Cupertino. Bernardini, who loves drama, enjoyed working on the radio plays, but thought it would be difficult to do something on that scale on a regular basis. "By reading stories, memorizing lines wouldn't be necessary," she says. Currently, Bernardini says, she has been approached by two other women interested in the group. She is searching for three men to round things out. Bernardini has placed fliers at some branches of the San Jose Public Library and has visited two senior centers. She posted fliers and visited a creative writing class at Willows Senior Center on Lincoln Avenue last month. While Bernardini has not had a response to her recruitment efforts at Willows yet, she hasn't given up hope. Bernardini says that so far, she is considering Judith Viorst and Shel Silverstein books as possibilities. "We're looking for stories with dialogue so each of us can read a part," she says. The San Jose Public Library system does have a program in place for seniors and grandparents to read stories to children. The program is called Grandparents and Books and each branch is in charge of handling its own programs, said Kathy Boyd, children's librarian at the Willow Glen Branch Library. The only requirement for people interested in participating is that they undergo some training. Two years ago, Bernardini was involved with the Grandparents and Books program at Seven Trees Branch Library for six months. She says that after she retired, she decided to do something similar. The Willow Glen library features a Preschool Story Time Fridays at 10:30 a.m. Boyd says about 50 to 75 people show up. "I think that [the senior reading troupe idea] might work," Boyd says. "To me, it would be like just having a lot of grandparents come in. And people certainly are readers in this neighborhood, and the children love to be read to." For more information about the reading troupe or to make inquiries about participating, contact Genie Bernardini at 997-6292. [ Back to Contents Page | Willow Glen Resident Home Page | Archives ] This article appeared in the Willow Glen Resident, December 2, 1998. ©1998 Metro Publishing, Inc. All rights reserved.