Story Time Band

In 2013, children’s librarian Michael Kwende, known to Berkeley youth as “Mr. Michael,” and retired librarian and guitarist Tim DeWolf, began offering musical story time programs at the Berkeley Public Library’s Claremont Branch Library. Their events soon became so popular with children and their caregivers that it outgrew the library’s programming space, requiring them to secure a larger venue to accommodate their audiences. That place became Berkeley’s Bateman Mall park, and soon after, musicians and library specialists Juan Castille and Donovan Russell joined the effort and the Story Time Band was born.

They have since brought their musical story time to numerous elementary school classrooms, libraries, and literacy events and have performed at public parks throughout the city where hundreds of children and caregivers regularly attend their weekly events. In 2023, they began an artist residency at Freight & Salvage and performed at the Berkeley Bay Festival and last year’s Bay Area Book Festival.