Pathfinder Bria Sterling: Sharing Her Voice With Children!

Pathfinder is a series of blogs about intrepid library staff who are leading interesting programs that you may not yet know about.

Page Bria Sterling is well-known for her friendly customer service, her gentle and fun manner with children, and her vibrant public announcements at the Cambrian Library.

Graduating with a Bachelor of Arts from San José State University's Theater Arts Program, Bria also minored in Radio-Television-Film. Currently, she is a "professional Voiceover Artist who has worked with big named brands and notable clients for commercial and streaming projects."

Bria's interest in voiceover work started as a child. Attuned to listening to professional voiceovers while growing up, she tells me,

"I would hear voices literally almost everywhere I would go: radio, TV commercials, movie promos, grocery store announcements, video games and the list goes on.

I would watch a decent amount of films, cartoons and commercials and would sometimes mimic their voices just for fun."

Bay Area native Bria has known from a young age what she wanted to be when she grew up!

Thinking of the future, Bria is considering,

"Slowly dip(ping) my feet into working in the voiceover niche of Children's audiobooks and Read-Along books. As a staff member at the library, it came to me that being the "voice" for Read-Along books would incorporate my three favorite topics (Children, Reading & Voiceover). My monthly Reading to Children sessions would be great practice for me to feel comfortable reading to kids again."

Bria's Interest in Reading Aloud to Kids

Remember those Scholastic Book Fairs at school when you were growing up? To Bria, these Fairs were pivotal events in her future career choices. Bria works in the Library because she loves promoting reading.

As a child, she would use "my creative imagination painting the pictures in my head while reading the words from the text."

While attending San José State University, she sought to explore her interests by working at a YMCA After-School program as a teacher's assistant in the Kindergarten room. She tells me,

"After a few hours at school, we would have 15+ children in our room that had A LOT of energy. During snack prep, I would sometimes read to the children while they were waiting for snack which I always thought was fun. It was a great way to have a quiet reading time with them after they had their play time.

It seems that one of our programs, Reading to Children, would be a good way for Bria to utilize her phenomenal talents!

Bria's Perfect Match: Reading to Children

Creating unique character voices is one of the mainstays for a voiceover artist.

Being a voiceover artist is also a performing art, so Bria thought to herself,

"What better way to perform than Reading to Children?

Reading to Children is one of the best activities to do because it sparks their little creative minds with imagination and can be very educational and entertaining as well."

After observing another reader, Ms. Aysha, Bria became comfortable with running her own program. She tells me,

"I would make it fun with asking interactive questions to keep their attention on the story and maybe even play an engaging song or two as well."

Ms. Bria's Reading to Children is Once a Month!

Intrigued? Please join Ms. Bria at her first Reading to Children program!

WHO: Ms. Bria
WHAT: Reading to Children
WHEN: Saturday, December 9, 2023 from 1:00-2:00 p.m. Once a month, check Cambrian's event or printed calendar each month for her program.
WHERE: Cambrian Library's Picture Book Area on the second Floor.