question that each of us must ask, however, is what makes a story good? Your mind might hark back to lessons in grammar and writing to come up with answers like flowing dialogue, relatable characters, character growth, conflict, an easy to follow structure, and so on. You might also point to less defined things like making you laugh, being unable to put it down, or making you forget the passage of time. All of these can be elements of a good story, and I’m sure you could have several stories come to mind from just these elements I’ve listed. We love hearing stories, reading them, and watching them, but not everyone enjoys telling them. Some stories feel too personal, special, or touch on wounds of the heart that still ache. Despite this, I believe that everyone can be a storyteller, even if you can’t share your own story.

As I was studying to become a librarian, I looked at a number of research areas in the field of librarianship, which is a pretty big field! Librarians can be found in museums, in hospitals, in law offices and courts, in large companies, in sports halls of fame, at NASA, and many other places. Librarians organize information and help make it accessible and available. One particular field of librarianship that caught my research interests was prison librarians. On the face of it, one would think that librarians in a prison help inmates access information to either further their education or better understand legal matters. They do that and more. I read research written by librarians who partnered with therapists to engage inmates in collaborative storytelling through tabletop roleplaying games. I was immediately intrigued. I read about how the act of creating a story together helped inmates deal with emotional trauma, addiction, and communication issues. I read about how this act of storytelling brought inmates together and reduced conflict and confrontation in the prisons where it was implemented. Storytelling has power.

Here at the New Ulm Public Library, I am privileged to lead weekly collaborative storytelling sessions using the rules framework of a tabletop roleplaying game, which provides structure to guide the story. The group that meets at the library each week has now been telling a story for over 4 years. It isn’t my story. The story is theirs, and the ownership of that story is reflected in the enjoyment and investment they have put into that story together. Individual storytellers have come and gone, but the story goes on as it takes on a life of its own. From my perspective, the story is at turns funny, intense, emotional, and relaxing. I enjoy this weekly creative exercise both for the story itself and because of the positive effects I see in the storytellers. People make friends, people find jobs, people comfort and support each other in loss, and people encourage and offer help in times of challenge. When the storytelling began, they were all strangers, but the act of storytelling continues to bring them together.

Whether we realize it or not, we all are part of someone else’s story, but in the words of Matt Smith, in his role as the eleventh Doctor Who, “We’re all stories in the end. Let’s make it a good one, eh?” We hope you’ll include the library as part of your story, whether you have never been or find it a well loved setting. We’ll always welcome the chance to make your story a good one.

The New Ulm Public Library is located at 17 North Broadway and is open from 9:30 a.m.-8 p.m. on Monday-Thursday and 9:30 a.m.-5 p.m. on Friday-Saturday. The library will be closed on Monday February 17 for President’s Day.