Story Time at the Library

ORLANDO, Fla. -- Children and parents gathered together in a small room decorated with pictures of cartoons and large posters of the alphabet in the children’s section of the Orlando Public Library Saturday, July 24 for the library's weekly story time.

Jackie Padilla, one of the library’s story tellers, began the morning’s activities with a series of sing-along songs to get the children, ranging ages 2 to 5, warmed up for story time.

“I would say that I’m really more of a performer than anything else,” said Padilla.

Although Padilla may be simply known as the story teller to her audience, the county library system recognizes her by the title of youth program assistant.

“My particular position requires that I have a detailed schedule of the different stories I will read, along with any activities I plan on coordinating,” said Padilla, who continued to add “you have to audition for the role of story teller.”

The children jumped, danced and clapped along as Padilla read story books with titles like "I Like it When" and "Good Night Me", a short story about the importance of bed time that coincidentally almost lulled the young audience into a sudden nap time.

“I think it is good for the kids to have someone so engaging reading to them every weekend,” said parent Fallon Carter.

Padilla has been a story teller with the library for 6 years and says that they sponsor a multitude of reading oriented activities for age groups 2 to 14, and offer a bilingual story time the first Saturday of every month that encourages children to speak both Spanish and English.

“This was our first time doing this, and I think we will probably come back next Saturday,” said parent Jennifer Orenstein. "My roommate actually referred me to it after she took her daughter," she added.

For more information about future story times and any other library public events, visit www.ocls.info.

Kristin Harmel

ORLANDO, Fla. – Internationally known author and journalist Kristin Harmel visited and spoke to a classroom of news reporting students attending Valencia’s West Campus Tuesday, July 6.

Harmel, author of 6 novels, including “The Art of French Kissing” and “Italian for Beginners”, spoke about her personal experiences as well as the general trials and tribulations she faced throughout her career as a writer.

“I started professionally writing at 16,” Harmel said while commenting on her writing history, and continued by saying, ”I didn’t quite lie, but I did make sure not to include my age in my submissions.”

Although the classes question and answer session remained relatively professional, Harmel didn’t shy away when asked her thoughts on being compared to fictional character Carrie Bradshaw of Sex In the City. “I do date very much like Carrie Bradshaw,” said Harmel.

She discussed her eventual transition from journalistic writing, when she worked for such known periodicals such as the St. Pete Times and People, to novel writing. “When I was a full time journalist, I always felt caught up in the competitive aspect of it all,” she said.

Harmel’s first book, “How to Sleep With A Movie Star”, was her first break into book writing in a genre known commonly as Chick lit. “My novels generally focus on a person’s search to find themselves,” she said.

Details on how students could break into the field of journalism and novel writing were major points of discussion that Harmel touched on as she clicked through a celebrity filled photo gallery, chronicling some highlights of her career.

Future projects, including a ghost written autobiography of musician Chubby Checker and a yet to be announced project was what she had lined up next. For more information on Kristin Harmel’s books, or to contact her, visit her site.