What Not To Do?

So I am having such a good time with this conversation about Best Practices in storytime! Thanks to everyone who has added their two cents, either online or in person. I have so much to ponder! I feel like Pooh Bear going, “Think think think think.”

I am starting to draft my own take on a Best Practices in Storytime list and hope you have a list forming of your own. I’m not quite there yet, though, and am craving even more input! If you are, too, here’s another angle for us to take:

Thanks to my colleague Bob for suggesting a new train of thought in a recent Twitter conversation. He said that sometimes focusing on what makes for a bad storytime can be productive, too. Rather than saying, “You must do X,” you say, “Craft your own approach, just avoid doing Y.” This can give staff some latitude to create their own storytime style.

So how about what NOT to do in storytime?

Don’t choose bad books?
Don’t mumble?
Don’t run longer than 30 minutes?

This list would be just as subjective as a best practices list, wouldn’t it? What have you been told not to do? Do you agree with that advice?