A nocturnal adventure at Holon Mediatheque

By Limor Shiponi

Imagine thirty children aged nine to twelve invited to spend the night in a children’s library. Isn’t that a great idea? It resonates with one of my childhood dreams I was also terrified of. The second dream was to spend a night in a toy shop. Brrr…..

“White Night” is a special adventure arranged by Holon Mediatheque for the fourth year now. The children are regular participants in “young author” workshops and arrive to “white Night” for some extra creative activities around books, authors, storytelling and each-other. They are accompanied by young guides through a rich and engaging night, set-off with a session of storytelling in the “egg” – a special egg-shaped hall dedicated to storytelling performances for children and a really cozy place.

There are plenty of responsible adults around and the great thing about them is the way they leave central stage for the youngsters. Two storytelling sessions take place during the night: the opening session I have the privilege to perform for the second year now and a middle session led by Holon’s mayor… now show me a mayor of a large city that will leave his family late at night to come and tell stories to a bunch of kids in the library. He most probably understands something very important.

I wish someone had this idea when I was a kid. Never the less, I enjoy myself greatly as I enjoy the fact that the chief librarian of the largest library in the country, quite an elderly woman, arrives especially for my session and takes a seat in the dark, slightly away from the kids sitting on the carpets 🙂

Holon Mediatheque – a creative cultural center