Storytelling itself is an art and a longstanding tradition in oral history that is said to be "addictive."
"Remember your grandma telling you stories about when she was young?" asked Taryn Prewitt, special events coordinator for the Missouri River Regional Library. "That is storytelling, and she was passing along an oral history to you, and oral tradition."
For the 14th year, the library is hosting the Mid-Missouri Storytelling Festival. On Thursday and Friday, the events will bring storytelling to 30 Cole County schools and three retirement centers, along with community concerts on Friday and Saturday.
The first public concert will be an adult-only show at 7:30 p.m. Friday at the Missouri River Regional library in the art gallery. At 10 a.m. Saturday at both the Missouri River Regional Library and Osage County Library, a storytelling concert will be held for people of all ages.
Prewitt emphasized the Friday concert was for those 18 and older. She said some of the material is for mature audiences. That event will feature five tellers, each telling stories for about 15 minutes.
The family event at 10 a.m. Saturday will feature four storytellers at the main library in Jefferson City and two at the Osage County Library in Linn.