Virtual Read-Alouds | Bloomfield Township Public Library

Settle in—it’s story time! Enjoy a softly read short story, poem, or essay read aloud by an Adult Services librarian.

The Virtual Read-Aloud program is designed to celebrate classic stories and traditional storytelling. These short form “audiobooks” offer listeners the chance to enjoy a quick, accessible narrative that combines literature with ambient sounds and seasonally-relevant elements. Sit back, relax, and immerse yourself in a narrative that has been carefully selected just for patrons’ pleasure.

A new read-aloud will be published every month on the Adult Services Vimeo page, so keep an eye out for new titles! Material selected for these read-alouds are in the public domain and are sourced from Project Gutenberg, so that listeners can read along if they would like.

Virtual Read-Alouds, A Day In the Country, Anton Chekhov. Photograph of Anton Chekhov, circa 1889.

Settle into springtime with a extra-gentle reading of a story that celebrates the power and beauty of the natural world.

Anton Chekhov (1860 – 1904) was a Russian physician, playwright, and short story author. Lauded as one of the leading contributors to the early Modernist period in theatre and literature, Chekhov is considered one of the world’s most skillful writers of his (or any) age. His works include one-act and four-act plays, multiple novellas and one full-length novel, and over five hundred short stories.

“A Day in the Country” tells the story of an afternoon enjoyed between two orphan children and the kind, intelligent cobbler who shares their village, as they explore the natural world and meditate on the glory of springtime.

Want to read along? Click here to read the story on Project Gutenberg.

Sound effects included in this video were downloaded from Freesound.org and incorporated in accordance with the Creative Commons Attributions License. No copyright infringement and/or commercial usage is intended.

Thank you to the Friends of the Bloomfield Township Public Library for sponsoring the closed captioning of this video. Heartfelt thanks are also extended to former Adult Services page Inna Lopatik, for her instruction in proper Russian name pronunciation (any errors made are due to Emily’s lack of skill, rather than Inna’s tutelage).

Want to hear what has been read so far? Click on the following links to be taken to previous months’ Virtual Read-Alouds on Vimeo.

The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman (April 2021)

The Spirit of the Herd by Dallas Lore Sharpe (May 2021)

The Story-Teller by Saki (June 2021)

Lines Composed a Few Miles Above Tintern Abbey by William Wordsworth (July 2021)

Bernice Bobs Her Hair by F. Scott Fitzgerald (August 2021)

The Adventure of the Copper Beeches by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (September 2021)

The Fear by Robert Frost (October 14, 2021)

The Grave-Mound by the Brothers Grimm (October 28, 2021)

The Interlopers by Saki (November 2021)

Stopping By Woods on a Snowy Evening by Robert Frost (December 2021)

Goody Blake and Harry Gill by William Wordsworth (January 2022)