Observing preschool storytime practices in Aotearoa New Zealand's urban public libraries

•Observations in public libraries revealed that pre-school storytimes enabled children to practise early literacy skills.•In all the sessions observed, there was a strong focus on print motivation.•The librarians used a range of practices identified by the literature as supporting early literacy skills engagement.•Librarians could consider other techniques to expose children to practices which build the foundation for early literacy.

This study explores how preschool storytimes in public libraries in Aotearoa New Zealand incorporate practices which have been identified as beneficial for children's early literacy skills. The results of observations of storytimes in four public library services are reported, focusing on whether they included activities that foster six key literacy skills: print motivation; phonological awareness; vocabulary; narrative skills; print awareness and print concepts; and letter awareness. The results indicate that the storytimes observed focused strongly on techniques to increase children's print motivation, and other skills, such as the development of letter awareness, did not feature as frequently. It is suggested that the librarians leading the sessions were wary of introducing more formal instructional elements into the storytimes because they felt it might detract from the main aim of the sessions, which was to encourage children to enjoy books and reading.