When I started as the children’s librarian, I had to make one change almost right away, taking away the Monday morning storytime because I don’t arrive at work on Monday until 11:30 (then I’m here till we close at 8pm). However, I didn’t want to reduce the number of storytimes, so I decided to try offering an evening one – a pajama storytime! Also, it was a way of expanding access for families who can’t get here mid-morning on a weekday. I wasn’t sure if it would take off, but I spent a month talking it up, and attendance has been good so far!

Pajama Storytime happens in the Storytime Room, where we have a rug and some colorful, cozy bean bags. I brought in a string of twinkle lights and stuffed them into a clear glass jar (my “star jar”) and I put that on the table with the books. We start right at 6:30 and read till 7. Most attendees are older – first through fourth grade – but a few toddlers show up too, so I try to put the shorter, simpler books first in the lineup, and save longer ones for after the toddlers’ attention span is exhausted.

Not every book I read at Pajama Storytime is specifically bedtime-themed, but a lot of them are. Here’s what we’ve read so far:

Goodnight Veggies by Diana Murray/Zachariah Ohora
Are You Awake? by Sophie Blackall
Goodnight, Everyone by Chris Haughton
In the Night Garden by Carin Berger
Interrupting Chicken by David Ezra Stein
Everyone’s Awake by Colin Meloy
Time for Bed by Mem Fox/Jane Dyer
Awake, Asleep by Kyle Lukoff/Nadia Alam

Just Because by Mac Barnett/Isabelle Arsenault
How to Put Your Parents to Bed by Mylisa Larsen
City Moon by Rachael Cole/Blanca Gomez
Tell Me What to Dream About by Giselle Potter
Bedtime Monsters by Josh Schneider
Hoodwinked by Arthur Howard
There Is A Crocodile Under My Bed! By Ingrid & Dieter Schubert

The Yawns Are Coming by Christopher Eliopoulos
A Spoonful of Frogs by Casey Lyall and Vera Brosgol
Night in the City by Julie Downing
Chicken Wants A Nap by Tracy Marchini
Every Dreaming Creature by Brendan Wenzel
Kitten’s First Full Moon by Kevin Henkes
In the Night Kitchen by Maurice Sendak

Good Night, Mr. Panda by Steve Antony
Windows by Julia Denos
A Bedtime for Bear by Bonny Becker/Kady MacDonald Denton
The Little Wooden Robot and the Log Princess by Tom Gauld
Hank’s Big Day by Evan Kuhlman & Chuck Groenink
Sleep Like A Tiger by Mary Logue/Pamela Zagarenski

As you can see, there’s a mix of longer and shorter ones, dreamy and goofy stories, rhyming and not, silly and soothing. I even had one parent thank me because no one had read a story to her in such a long time! (Children’s programming is important for the caregivers, too!)

Is there a Pajama Storytime at your library? What do you like about it? What would you change?