![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.missouriwestern.edu\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/133\/2017\/09\/Future-Griffs-at-the-Chocolate-Factory-24.jpg\")
<\/a>Will Stuck ’00<\/p><\/div>\n
\u201cAs human beings, our oldest art form is storytelling, and all other art forms spring from that,\u201d said Stuck, who graduated from Missouri Western with a Bachelor of Fine Arts. \u201cThat\u2019s how we connect.\u201d<\/p>\n
The decision to leave his longtime career as manager of the children\u2019s department at the East Hills branch and go out on his own was several years in the making, but about two years ago, he set up a website and a Facebook page, and sent out eight emails \u201cto test the waters.\u201d The first year, Stuck generated enough business that he made about half his salary. The second year, he didn\u2019t send out any emails, gave fewer performances and made even more money.<\/p>\n
But he still wasn\u2019t quite ready to leave the library.<\/p>\n
\u201cEvery time I had an argument with myself about leaving and decided to stay, something would happen that made me think I should leave.\u201d When he\u2019d introduce performers for library programs, they would tell him that he should be doing what they were doing. Audience members at conferences where he spoke were telling him how much his talks changed their lives and careers.<\/p>\n
Finally, he says, his excitement outweighed his fear, and his last day at the library was June 2, his 24-year work anniversary. But it still wasn\u2019t easy. His wife, Crystal, works for the library. He said he\u2019ll also miss all his co-workers and the families that he has met over the years. After such a long job tenure, some of Stuck\u2019s earlier story time attendees grew up and had children of their own that were listening to him bring books to life.<\/p>\n
By the time Stuck worked his last day at the library, he had already lined up speaking engagements at several conferences and more than 30 performances at libraries in three states. He will also serve as emcee at the Alumni Association\u2019s awards banquet in October.<\/p>\n
His goal has always been, and will continue to be, to make kids happy and to instill a love of reading in them. \u201cI like that kids got library cards because I came to their school and acted silly,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n
Stuck, a St. Joseph native, started at the library a week after he graduated from high school. A few years later, he started reading to children.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe first few times, I was terrible. But by the third or fourth week, I started thinking about people who read to me that I enjoyed.\u201d<\/p>\n
He thought about his family (\u201cloaded with storytellers\u201d) and his fourth-grade teacher. \u201cI was the class clown and always got in trouble for telling stories, so we rarely saw eye to eye. But when she read to the class, she was my favorite teacher.\u201d<\/p>\n
So he changed his technique, and story time attendance soared. Over the years, he says he developed too many programs to mention. At first, they were just for children, but then he added teen-agers to his audience because he didn\u2019t want them to feel left out. (\u201cI like to think I was ahead of the duct tape movement.\u201d)<\/p>\n
\u201cI wanted to make the library a part of the community, not just a place in the community. I did everything I could to serve every age and help them understand the importance of the library.\u201d<\/p>\n
Oftentimes, he challenged older kids who weren\u2019t so sure they liked to read. \u201c\u2018If you come to the library, I guarantee you that I will find a book you love,\u2019 I told them. Some took me up on it and I did it.\u201d And, most rewarding, he says, is that some of those he challenged became longtime library cardholders.<\/p>\n
Speaking at a conference recently, Stuck ended his talk by telling the story of \u201cThe Tale of Despereaux<\/a>,\u201d by Kate DiCamillo<\/a>, and used the following quotation from the book: \u201cStories are light. Light is precious in a world so dark. Begin at the beginning. Tell Gregory a story. Make some light.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThat says it all,\u201d said Will Stuck, the storyteller.<\/p>\n What, you may ask, are the favorites of someone who has read thousands of books? Stuck didn\u2019t have to think about it for very long:<\/em><\/p>\n Favorite adult book: \u201cI own the complete works of Edgar Allen Poe, and have read all of them more than 30 times.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n Favorite juvenile book: \u201c\u2019Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix.\u2019 She wrote in a character that you really, really hate (Dolores Umbridge). Most authors can\u2019t do that.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n Favorite kids book: \u201cIt\u2019s a tie. \u2018Where the Wild Things Are,\u2019 and growing up I loved \u2018Lambert the Sheepish Lion.\u2019\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" After a career of almost a quarter century at the St. Joseph Public Library, Will Stuck \u201900 enthralled children at his last story time this past spring and embarked on expanding his public speaking\/professional storytelling business. Stuck says he will continue to perform for children and make them laugh, but […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[23,57],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.missouriwestern.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1802"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.missouriwestern.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.missouriwestern.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.missouriwestern.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.missouriwestern.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1802"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.missouriwestern.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1802\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3930,"href":"https:\/\/www.missouriwestern.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1802\/revisions\/3930"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.missouriwestern.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1802"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.missouriwestern.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1802"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.missouriwestern.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1802"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}