The Start of Storytime Sundays
Annika Schneider - Miss North Carolina's Teen 2023
When I first began to create and develop my CSI, Read With Me, I found many ways to connect with people in my county. I went to multiple events, schools, and libraries where I was able to share my love of reading face-to-face with future leaders. This impact and experiences were invaluable. I absolutely loved being able to connect with people throughout my county. I felt as though I was truly showing them what reading has to offer in each of their lives. This impact was great, but I searched for something more. Visits and in-person projects within my county were great but trying to expand Read With Me throughout the state could not be done in the same ways. I knew that I had to develop another part of Read With Me, in order to reach more people and prospective readers across the state as well as the world.
After some brainstorming, social media seemed to be the easiest vessel to carry out this challenge. I knew that the use of social media could reach thousands of people within seconds. Now the question was, What? What do I do on social media to promote my love of reading and get others to form a bond with literacy? This is when Storytime Sundays were born. Every Sunday, I would create a Facebook Live on my local titleholder account. On the livestream, I would read a book and interact with viewers. I would promote the live on all of my other social media in an effort to boost the attendance record time after time.
If you are ever experiencing something similar while trying to leave your mark, remember that you can always have an impact, big or small.
In the beginning, Storytime Sundays had a great immediate response. I would interact, live, with about 20 viewers per live. Facebook Live was great because every time I recorded, the video was uploaded to my Facebook profile as well. After every Storytime Sunday, more and more viewers would tune in. I had several mothers who watched the live sessions with their young children before bedtime and expressed how much they loved the storytime. Slowly, and with repetition, Storytime Sunday received less active viewers. On most Sundays, I would have around 5 people or even fewer watching the live stream. This was sometimes discouraging, but I knew I had to keep going. Despite those times and what seemed like setbacks, I checked the views after posting the video on my profile, and they were consistently in the hundreds. Although I may not have had the instant gratification of live viewers, I had hundreds of people watching the Storytime Sundays once they were posted. The Storytime Sundays that I created now have thousands of views from people across the country, including Puerto Rico, of course.
Storytime Sunday – The ABCs of Black History by Rio Cortez
Storytime Sunday – The Christmas Story with K9 Tango
Some people believe that strength is in numbers. I believe that quantity does not always exceed quality. On some Sundays, I may not have received the amount of viewers I had hoped for. A lack of viewers never mattered to me because of the positive feedback that I received from mothers of young children and the outpour of support I received. The numbers may not have always illustrated it, but I consistently had viewers connecting with myself, a book, and reading as a whole. This is the impact that Read With Me has had, has, and will continue to have on our communities regarding the bond people have with reading. This helped me continue through the times when it was awkward to have only a couple of people viewing my livestream. If you are ever experiencing something similar while trying to leave your mark, remember that you can always have an impact, big or small.
Keep up with my Read With Me journey by visiting missnc.org and my personal website annikschneider.com.
To learn more about Annika’s journey as Miss North Carolina’s Teen 2023, visit her profile page at missnc.org.
