MEDIA RELEASE

Diane Ferlatte and Jim May, award-winning and nationally-renowned storytellers, will be featured performers for the 2009 HSPLS Children’s Summer Reading Program in July 2009.

Ferlatte, a New Orleans native, combines her skills as an interpreter in American Sign Language with her natural eloquence in dialect, movement and music to create an evocative storytelling experience that bring to life the African and African-American folk traditions.

She has performed in Austria, New Zealand, Australia, as well as in Hawaii, and throughout the United States.  Ferlatte has received awards for her audio tapes from Parents’ Choice, and the American Library Association.

See Diane Ferlatte perform “Have I Got a Story to Tell” at the following 10 Oahu, Big Island, and Kauai libraries:

Oahu

• July 13 (Monday), 6 p.m. at Kalihi-Palama Public Library (832-3466)
• July 15 (Wednesday), 10:30 a.m. at Hawaii Kai Public Library (397-5833)
• July 18 (Saturday), 10:30 a.m. at McCully-Moiliili Public Library (973-1099)

Hawaii

• July 16 (Thursday), 10 a.m. at Mountain View Public & School Library (968-2322)
• July 16 (Thursday), 3 p.m. at Bond Memorial Public Library (889-6655)
• July 17 (Friday), 10:30 a.m. at Hilo Public Library (933-8888)

Kauai

• July 20 (Monday), 6:30 p.m. at Waimea Public Library (338-6848)
• July 21 (Tuesday), 10 a.m. at Lihue Public Library (241-3222)
• July 22 (Wednesday), 3 p.m. at Hanapepe Public Library (335-8418)
• July 22 (Wednesday), 6:30 p.m. at Princeville Public Library (826-4310)

Jim May, from Spring Grove, Ill., is an Emmy Award-winning storyteller and author.  He won the prestigious Chicago Emmy Award for his 1989 performance of his original story “A Bell for Shorty,” on Chicago’s WTTN-Channel 11.  

In 2000, May received the highest honor bestowed on storytellers – induction into the National Storytelling Network’s Circle of Excellence.

May’s folk tales, myths, legends, and “not-so-scary” ghost stories are told with humor and wisdom.  He has been telling stories to children and their families throughout the United States and Europe for two decades.

Experience “Storytelling with Jim May” at the following four Maui, Molokai, Big Island, and Oahu libraries:

Maui & Molokai

• July 21 (Tuesday), 10 a.m. at Molokai Public Library (553-1765)
• July 23 (Thursday), 3 p.m. at Kahului Public Library (873-3097)

Hawaii

• July 22 (Wednesday), 4:30 p.m. at Kealakekua Public Library (323-7585)

Oahu

• July 26 (Sunday), 1 p.m. at Kaimuki Public Library (733-8422)

Sponsored by the Friends of the Library of Hawaii, National Football League Charities, Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Foundation, Hawaiian Telcom, Junior League of Honolulu, UH-Manoa Outreach College, and funded in part by the National Endowment for the Arts, and the State Foundation on Culture and the Arts, these 45-minute programs are recommended for all ages.

The program schedules are subject to change.  Please call the hosting library prior to the performance date if a sign language interpreter or other special accommodation is needed: on Oahu, two weeks in advance; on Neighbor Islands, three weeks in advance.

In addition, public libraries statewide are hosting a variety of performers and programs.  

Visit www.librarieshawaii.org for a complete list of programs and performers, or contact your local library to find out their programs.