By Amelia Tarallo
Hometown Weekly Staff
Following the first coronavirus closures in March, I had the horrible realization that the stories I usually cover would be at a standstill. All of our local libraries shut their doors. All of the annual spring community events were canceled. People became resigned to the fact that the next few months would be spent outside of their normal routines.
Despite all my fears, I’m happy to report that libraries, like the Dover Town Library, have bounced back, despite all of the unknown, and have converted some of their usual programming into Zoom sessions that kids can watch from the safety of their own homes.
On Wednesday, April 22, parents helped their kids log on to Zoom to attend the ScienceTeller program presented by the Dover Town Library. I, meanwhile, logged into my Zoom account for the first time to watch and get back into the wild world of children’s library programing.
I didn’t think I would miss it as much as I have. But there I sat, practically bouncing at the prospect of attending a library program for the first time in over a month.
I logged into Zoom for the first time at 2:00. As is the case with every new piece of technology I adopt, I was a little hesitant and a little concerned about how to use it. I entered the meeting room number and password, expecting to wait a couple of minutes. “Sometimes, you have to wait for the person running to start it,” my mom had reminded me. But as soon as I clicked the "join" button, I was met with voices asking if they had logged in correctly and the sound of mic shuffling. It was 2:01, and there were already ten users attending.
Christopher Ellis, a member of the ScienceTellers team, was already logged on, ready to go. Soon, the Zoom meeting was filled with eager, but patient kids, ready to be entertained by someone who wasn’t a family member for the first time since mid-March. Ellis got to work, concocting a lively story about siblings Haley and Caesar discovering an alien spacecraft.
Ellis continued, including props, perfect backgrounds, and an interactive vote from his audience to decide how the story would go. "Would you go deeper into the slime trail?" Kids voted to continue their trip into the woods until they came across a spaceship and explored inside. The background of a spaceship popped up, adding to the immersive experience. "It almost looks like the Millennium Falcon," observed Ellis. Moments later, he noted that he felt like something was behind him. "No, it's just my imagination," he scoffed. Seconds later, kids watched as a white hand slowly rose from behind one of his shoulders.
I could hear a few kids who had somehow unmuted their microphones, and tried to tell Ellis that there was a hand behind him, all while giggling. It slightly amazed me, because most of my friends have reported how their coworkers can't seem to figure out how to unmute during important work meetings.
Ellis followed up by demonstrating some of the science experiments he did while telling the story, keeping the kids as captivated. Even I couldn’t help but watch as he sent a potato flying across the room and created icky slime. But like all library events, the program came to an end, and parents gradually left the Zoom session. For a moment, it almost felt exactly like it does in the library, with kids trickling out while others ask last-minute questions. For a moment, everything was back to normal.
I’m not going to lie: being able to go to work in my pajamas does not make me feel entirely horrible. But like these kids, I’m eager to step back into the library and enjoy some of their programs. Until then, I’m happy to wait and enjoy some of the fun from my own house.
