Faculty Expertise:
Story Squad Literacy Initiative
Education:
BA, College of William and Mary
MLS, PhD, Indiana University
Biography:
Dr. Brian Sturm is a Professor and Associate Dean for Academic Affairs at the UNC School of Information and Library Science (SILS). His research focuses on immersion in information environments, the state of being completely engrossed in whatever you are doing, whether that’s reading, story listening, or playing video games. Most people have been “lost in a book” or deeply engaged in some form of media, and Dr. Sturm has dedicated his career to exploring the experience of immersion and the various influences that help us get immersed. Prior to his academic career, Dr. Sturm was a natural history museum docent, gave planetarium shows, worked as a wildlife rehabilitator, and taught outdoor education to 5th graders in California. He has also been a professional storyteller for over 25 years.
Courses Regularly Taught:
INLS 733 Administration of Public Library Work with Children and Young Adults
INLS 732 Children's Literature and Related Materials
INLS 558 Principles and Techniques of Storytelling
Awards and Recognition:
2013 - Frank Porter Graham Honor Society. For “significant contributions to the development of graduate and professional student education at the University.”
2013 - Gryphon Lecture. “Paradoxically speaking: just one of the ways folktales engage listeners.” Center for Children’s Books. University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. March 2013.
2012 - Named Research Fellow at the Graduate School of Library and Information Science, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
2012 - Selected for the UNC Chancellor’s Faculty Entrepreneurial Bootcamp, May 2012.
2012 - Parent Tested/Parent Approved award for Rugby and Reme children’s picture book series.
2012 - Cora Paul Bomar Lecture in Librarianship, University of North Carolina-Greensboro.
2011 - Springshare Innovation in Academic Libraries Award, given by the Special Libraries Association, for ShBANGE alternate reality game.
Selected Publications, Papers, Presentations:
Sturm, Brian W. and Sarah Beth Nelson. (2017). What can folktales teach us about higher education teaching? Storytelling, Self, Society, 13, 2, 170-194.
Wang, Pianran, Jinhua Xu, and Brian W. Sturm. (2017). 阅读方法对儿童表达能力影 响的实验研究 [Study on Expression Skill Impacts of Children’s Reading Techniques]. 图书馆论坛 [Library Tribune], 37, 4, 83-89.
Sturm, Brian W., Mark Riddle, and Laura Fox. (2017). Storytelling’s impact on school library circulation. School Libraries Worldwide, 23, 1, 1-14.
Sturm, Brian and Sarah Beth Nelson. (2016). With our own words: librarians' perceptions of the values of storytelling in libraries. Storytelling, Self, Society, 12, 1, 4-23.
Phillips, Eva and Brian Sturm. (2013). Do pictures books about starting kindergarten portray the kindergarten experience in developmentally appropriate ways? Early Childhood Education Journal. 41, 6, 465-475.
Sturm, Brian, Renee Bosman, and Leigh Lambert. (2008). Windows and mirrors: secret spaces in children’s literature. New Review of Children’s Literature and Librarianship, 14, 2, 83-101.
Stanley, Sarah and Brian W. Sturm. (2008). Sequential art books and beginning readers: can the pictures help them decode words? Knowledge Quest, 37, 2, 50-57
MacDonald, Margaret Read and Brian W. Sturm. (2001). The Storytellers Sourcebook, 1983-1999. Chicago: Gale. 712 pages.
