Monday, May 23, 2011

Plans Move Forward for Orem Utah's The Center for Story


Orem library to become home to storytelling center. (Salt Lake Tribune, 5/10/2011)

Excerpt:   That first Timpanogos Storytelling Festival had more than 600 people turn out to hear tales spun. Today, the Timpanogos Storytelling Festival draws more than 40,000 people annually to Mount Timpanogos Park in Provo Canyon, having long outgrown Ashton’s backyard and the SCERA Shell amphitheater.

But even that is not enough to satiate Orem residents’ love for storytelling, even in an age of Facebook and YouTube.

“Story touches everyone. It touches people of all ages,” said Louise Wallace, Orem’s library director. “It’s an essential element to our humanity. It touches the social fabric.”

With crowds overflowing the library’s storytelling auditorium, part of the library’s north wing, Wallace and the city are working on an addition that will be dedicated to storytelling.

The Center For Story, a complex consisting of a 385-seat auditorium, exhibit hall and two classrooms, is planned to be built next to Orem City Center. The $4.4 million center could open in 2013
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