“I feel very fortunate to have been involved in it for so many years,” says Lydia Smith, former teacher, librarian and now professional storyteller.

“I just love the feeling of knowing that children are with you in that moment and you are enjoying a story together— it is a great feeling really and it gives a lot back to see the light on a child's face when you reach the crux of the story, or the point of a joke and they just burst into laughter — it is just wonderful.”

Books and stories have always been a part of life for Lydia. Her mother was a librarian and following school, Lydia pursued a career as an English and History teacher. But it was only after following her husband’s work to Mudgee, that she stumbled into a new job and found what one might say is her calling.

“When we moved to Mudgee, I was teaching casually and I wasn’t enjoying it, which is why I very quickly answered an advertisement for working at the local library,” said Lydia.

“I never thought I'd end up in a library, but I was the children's librarian there for 20 years.”

Being a small regional library, Lydia was largely given a free hand to implement programs, many of which are still being run today. But it was during her regular Storytime sessions that Lydia began to put the pictures books aside and simply telling stories to the children.

“It was a conventional story time program, but I also incorporated told stories without a book, stories I just told which incorporated interaction with the children and music, drama all sort of different things,” she said

“Then I started getting feedback from parents that their kids were going home and retelling the stories I had told… they would reproduce them at home or they would replay the stories with their dolls or whatever and I thought that was amazing. So, I became more confident in including those kinds of stories.”

Soon Lydia was telling stories six times a week at the Library.

“And by telling them over and over and over again I could begin to see what works what didn't work…I was basically telling 80 stories a year and my repertoire grew,” she said.

“I found it was the thing I loved the most. I love telling stories with books and it is supremely important to do that, but I found the most popular time with the kids was when I would actually look them in the face and tell a story.”

Following the death of her husband, Lydia relocated to Orange to be closer to her daughter. And it was here that her daughter encouraged her to put her talent to use.

“I thought I don't just want to retire, I have a lot of skills built up over a lot of time and I love seeing kids respond to oral storytelling… so, I thought why not? let’s do it!” said Lydia, who now tells stories professionally as ‘The Story Lady.’

“I've incorporated a lot of things I developed over 20 years of being in the library and things I've learnt since then and honed on six grandchildren and I am really enjoying it.”

Lydia sources most of her stories from folk tales collected from all over the world. Stories, she says, that have stood the test of time, have interesting themes and hold great appeal for children.

“I find the most successful stories are the ones that people have told for generations and generations and I just put a quirky spin on them,” said Lydia, who has to feel a connection to the story in order to tell it.

“I have to love the story myself. It’s a bit like recognizing a friend. It's no use trying to tell a story if it hasn't made you laugh, surprised you or moved you in some way,” she said.

“Secondly, it needs to be able to be told to young hearers, so it needs a strong, simple structure and a satisfying plotline.

“Thirdly, it needs to have opportunities for children to be actively involved. It might be a repetitive chant, or an action or a way in which part of the plot can be dramatised in a simple way.”

Books will always be an important part of a child’s education, said Lydia, but telling stories has a power of its own.

“You are creating a bubble of experience and there is no feeling in the world like it when you're telling a story and you can see the children are totally engaged, they are not distracted by the pictures or turning the page, they are just in the moment. It creates an immediacy and an intimacy, which is really fabulous.”

www.thestorylady.com.au