Presenting Díapalooza AND the new Día Dynamos!

News Flash! Soon we’ll be posting information about how you can be part of our first Díapalooza next month. Each day of April, we’ll post Día ideas, photos, testimonials, etc. Look for more information to come soon or email us to be put on the mailing list.

I’m grateful for each of the committed Día advocates out there—librarians, teachers, professors, pre-service librarians and teachers, authors and illustrators, parents, students, etc. ¡Gracias! We’ve recognized a few of the Día Champions on this Bookjoy Blog and have decided that they’re more than champions: they’re Día Dynamos. Let me introduce Día Dynamo Beatriz Pascual Wallace. I met her a few years ago at a Día celebration at her library in Seattle.

Beatriz served on REFORMA’s Mora Award Committee last year. She’s this year’s chair and is doing an outstanding job. Please see the award guidelines on my website for more information. Consider volunteering at a Día event in your community. If there isn’t one, work with your nearby school or library to start one.

Thanks, Beatriz, for taking the time to answer some questions for us!

1.Tell us about your path to librarianship and work in youth services.

It was a long and winding road! I worked in newspaper publishing, children's book publishing and independent bookselling before hitting on the idea of going back to school to become a librarian. Now that I'm a librarian, I wish I had come up with the idea 20 years ago but ultimately, the path I took ended up fully informing my library career. As for focusing on youth services, I've always had an affinity for children's and YA literature, and in general, I'm kid-oriented at heart. When asked my age, I always have to think a moment how old I am because I definitely don't feel that old!

2. What do you like most about your work?
There is nothing proprietary or competitive about librarianship. We enthusiastically share information with our patrons and with each other as professionals. It's a collaborative and cooperative profession which I really appreciate!
3. How long have you been a member of REFORMA, and why did you become a member?
I became a member of REFORMA ten years ago while in library school and it was one of the best memberships for supplementing my library school education. I remember attending RNC2 (REFORMA's second national conference) and coming away inspired and jazzed by all that I learned about serving Latino and Spanish-speaking patrons.
4. Why did you agree to be the Mora Award Committee Chair?
I really appreciate that the award promotes reading in all the languages we speak. I think it's an important message to all families that their cultures and languages are valued and that they are celebrated and reinforced in books.
5. Can you tell us about your favorite Día memories?
My favorite Dia memories include the first Dia I ever hosted when I worked at Multnomah County Library. In my little branch, we had a festive celebration, with Head Start families in attendance, live music, and a visit with Maisy. Last year at my Seattle Public Library branch, we hosted a visit with the local Univision news anchor who is a terrific advocate for libraries and reading with kids. He read aloud from Pat Mora's Book Fiesta. And two years ago, Seattle Public Library hosted Pat Mora. She spoke to kids at an elementary school near my branch and it was great to see the kids come to the branch asking for her books.
6. What are you reading now?
There is so much to keep up with in children's and YA lit! I usually am listening to two and reading two all at once. At this moment, I'm also catching up on the recent award winners. I'm listening to Going Bovine by Libba Bray, reading Truce by Jim Murphy, and just finished Back Home by Julia Keller and Bad News for Outlaws by Vaunda Michaeux Nelson.
7. I always ask this question when interviewing someone for Pat. What is your favorite example of Bookjoy (either as a child or adult?)
For me, my moments of Bookjoy happen when a child or teen visiting the library tells me about a book they liked and we get into a conversation about it. I love seeing when a young person is profoundly affected by a book he or she read and they just can't tell me enough about it!

School and Public Library Collaboration for Día Events

When we read Hope Crandall's article "Community Collaboration for a Día Celebration," co-authored with Mary Parra and Deeda Chamberlain and published in the Winter 2009 issue of OLA Quarterly, we knew we wanted to interview her for the blog. Her enthusiasm and support of Día is infectious.

Hope Crandall provides library services in English and Spanish at Washington Elementary School in Woodburn, OR. She loves multicultural celebrations for all
ages. Hope is a member of OASL, OLA, and REFORMA.


Left to right: Mary Parra, Hope Crandall and Deeda Chamberlain

1. You've been involved in creating and maintaining successful collaborations between public and school libraries to plan and hold Día events. What are three key factors that ensure successful collaboration?
a) begin planning together at least 6 months in advance
b) maintain the focus on family and children’s literacy
c) leverage your unique pool of resources and patrons to plan a wide variety of activities and entertainment appealing to all participants

2. Tell us about some of your favorite literacy-based activities.
a) family members write and illustrate favorite riddles, proverbs, or tongue-twisters with examples of culturally and linguistically appropriate books on hand to view
b) rent a book character costume to roam the event for family photos and promotion of his/her books
c) wheel of fortune with book-related questions and literacy-related prizes
d) origami or similar craft books and supplies for a make-and-take option

3.In your article you point out that Día can be customized to fit any community size or ethnic configuration.? How do you go about reinforcing that idea within your community?
Each year we get better at knowing the needs and wants of our community. At a minimum these include the basic considerations of culture, religion, language, parent work schedules, transportation, and major commitments the families may have such as sports. Everything we plan aims to maximize the benefit and appeal to all our families. The event activities feature print and audiovisual resources, performing arts, food, and games which represent the interests of our three major ethnic groups: Latino, Russian, and Anglo. Private, parochial, and public schools, as well as child care centers, pre-schools, and houses of worship are contacted to sponsor activities and promote Día with their children and families.

4.What are you most excited about for Día 2010?
greater involvement of our Russian community

5.What do you think can be done on a statewide or national basis to increase Día's visibility in schools?
a) tie it to the school’s mandate for parent involvement and family literacy
b) configure it to the goals of each individual school or school district
c) know it is BookJOY, and a valuable break from testing mandates
d) give the school staff the necessary “release” time to plan and implement it

6.I always ask this question when interviewing for Pat. What's your most memorable Bookjoy experience as a child or adult?
The whole arc: know the Spanish book needs and wants of my staff and students, go to the annual Guadalajara International Book Fair, find and buy the books, have them rebound in industrial strength bindings, process the books, and share them with my students, staff, and parents. The critical segment of this arc is finding and buying the Spanish books. The joyful segment is reading the books to the children, and handing the books to the patrons.

Library Funding Opportunity

The National Center for Family Literacy and Better World Books have joined together in support of family programming and literacy efforts at libraries. Three $10,000 grants are available to libraries through the Better World Books/NCFL Libraries and Families Award. The deadline is March 3 and you can get the application online.

The award can be used for El Día de los ninos/El Día de los libros, Children's Day/Book Day events or other related family literacy programs.

Resources

From time to time we like to post about resources we think will interest our readers. And we welcome resource suggestions and comments from our readers too.

Library Sparks is a magazine for elementary level teachers and children's librarians. Each issue is packed with lesson plans, activities and programming ideas; all intended to help motivate kids to love reading and integrate wonderful literature throughout the curriculum. The March issue features an interview with author Claire Nivola, a camping webquest and other nature activities, and a library lesson about endangered animals. News on children's books from the experts at the Cooperative Children's Book Center (CCBC) are included in each issue. And there are always Web Resources that correlate to the theme of the printed issue. Request a free sample for yourself or a colleague.

The Spirit of Paper Tigers Project

We like keeping up with activities and news at PaperTigers.org and were excited to learn about a new project, The Spirit of Paper Tigers, just announced yesterday! The idea is to donate 100 sets of seven multicultural titles each to schools and libraries in need throughout the world. As stated on the website

"Many organizations are doing excellent work in getting books to children through schools and libraries in areas of need, and our efforts are not intended to replicate their work. The specific focus of this SPT project is to select a set of books published each year because their content, focus, and outreach express the goals of reading and literacy, as well as encouraging curiosity among young people about the world around them."

An interesting aspect of the project is that Paper Tigers will be receiving feedback from the book set recipients and posting it on their blog.

For a list of the selected titles and more information see the Paper Tigers website and blog.

Teens Talk to Pat

Pat is the featured author on Random Buzz this week, February 1-5. Each day, she’ll respond to questions about her new book, Dizzy in Your Eyes: Poems about Love .

Random Buzz is an online book community that teens can come to, to discuss upcoming books and connect with other avid readers and authors. There are over 55,000 members. Random Buzz offers teens the opportunity to receive ARC’s, participate in activities hosted by the Head Buzzer, win rewards and review books.

Reading Magic

I’ve started a new picture book which means while I’m trying to deal with paper work, e-mails, spring trip details, and promoting April 2010 Día celebrations across the country, I’m longing, yes longing, to be playing with my new project.

I recently began A History of Reading by Alberto Manguel and am learning all kinds of wonderful details and enjoying how smoothly they are presented. The book reminded me of the obvious fact that as readers, we agree on the meaning of a set of symbols. For anyone who knows bookjoy, we know, though forget, how amazing it is that the symbols/letters we look at magically can teach us, hurt us, sadden us, make us laugh. How blessed we are to be members of the global community of readers. Little wonder that we can feel a desire to share the gift of literacy, to share bookjoy.

Pura Belpré Awards

On January 18, many significant awards for the top books, audiobooks and video for children and teens were announced at the American Library Association’s Midwinter meeting. Included in the announcements were the Pura Belpré Awards honoring Latino writers and illustrators whose children’s books best portray, affirm and celebrate the Latino cultural experience. Pat is “simply thrilled” for both Rafael López and John Parra, Belpré winners for their illustrations of two of her picture books. López won the Illustrator Award for Book Fiesta: Celebrate Children’s Day/Book Day; Celebremos El día de los niños/El día de los libros and Parra won an Illustrator Honor for Gracias/ Thanks.

The Pura Belpré Award is co-sponsored by the Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC), a division of the American Library Association (ALA), and the National Association to Promote Library and Information Services to Latinos and the Spanish-Speaking (REFORMA), an ALA affiliate. Between 1996 and 2008 the award was given every other year and is now given annually.

You can read interviews with Rafael López and John Parra about their work on these books in Pat’s newsletter archives.
Rafael López interview
John Parra interview

Book Fiesta and Gracias/Thanks also were recognized as ALA Children’s Notable Books!

Dizzy

  It’s always an exciting moment to hold a first copy of one of my books in my hands. I tend to stare at the envelope suspecting what’s inside. When a Texas librarian suggested the idea of writing a collection of love poems for teens, I was initially a bit hesitant since I always have a list of the books I want to write, and such a book had never been on my list.

I began the poems that became Dizzy in Your Eyes: Poems about Love in 2005 supported on the journey by Nancy Hinkel, my wonderful editor. I became more intrigued when teachers and librarians across the country encouraged me saying that boys and girls really liked love poems, that boys sometimes copied the poems and signed their names. Now, that’s an incentive. The book is about all kinds of love, and my hope is that any group or class each person will find at least one poem that speaks to him or her. Enjoy!

Happy New Year

Dear Blog Readers,

Hope you are enjoying happy and healthy holidays. We’ve had snow in Santa Fe, and it’s plenty cold, but the sky is blue and beautiful above the snow-covered hills. My son, husband, and I were talking about the gifts we’re grateful for last night, and certainly one of mine is the pleasure of bookjoy. Aren’t we lucky to be readers and to want to share that pleasure with family, friends, others? One of my favorite books this year was Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout. What a journey into the diversity and yet the shared longings in the human heart.

What about you? What were some of your favorite books?

We welcome your comments and suggestions for sharing bookjoy in 2010. Wishing each of you good books, good health, good friends.

Pat

Happy Holidays!

Maybe you’ve sung it while caroling, or you’ve heard it in the car or at home, but chances are you’ve listened to the carol “A Partridge in a Pear Tree” this holiday season. Give yourself or a young one a holiday gift with Pat's new book A Piñata in a Pine Tree! This new rendition of the familiar carol, with brightly colored exquisite folk art by Margaly Morales, trades medieval English presents for traditional Latino gifts – burritos bailando (dancing donkeys), lunitas cantando (singing moons), and luminarias. And wait until you read the sweet surprise ending.

Merry Christmas to all!

Día in North Carolina

Our interview today is with Lori Special, Youth Services Consultant for the State Library of North Carolina. Lori is a fantastic Día supporter, and she incorporates information about Día into her regional workshops about summer reading and other topics.



1. Why are you offering sessions about Día and “best practices” during regional workshops throughout the state?
The Youth Services staff member in the public libraries in our state are very responsive to the needs of the members of their communities and want to provide the services and programs that their customers want and need. My job is to provide resources to help them do their jobs to the best of their abilities.The promotion of Día is a way for many of the YS staff members to consciously incorporate more non-dominant culture into their storytimes and other youth programming. Also, helping the YS staff have the language to speak to the adult members of their community about the purpose of Día as a day to focus on the literacy and developmental needs of children is also helpful in some areas where diversity is not the norm.

2. Tell us about how you’re linking Día to Summer Reading?
Our State Library provides “best practices” to the public libraries in our state, which are their own autonomous entities. I cannot mandate that they do any programs. However, I can have youth services staff from around the state that have successfully incorporated Día in their summer reading programming provide the know-how and information of how it was done in their libraries.

Librarianship is very local and I am encouraging each library to make their Day of the Child meet the needs of the users it serves and the other librarians who are in the trenches daily can provide the ideas, support, and validity that, I in my ivory tower cannot provide.

3. What is the response you’ve received from librarians?
Much of the need for information about Día has come from the YS staff themselves. They have been the driving force behind the need for information, so the response has been positive.

4. What are some of the concerns librarians have about planning Día celebrations?
Many of the concerns center around the belief that Día is only for Spanish-speaking customers and their families and the majority of the staff do not speak any Spanish and they don’t know how to reach members of the Spanish-speaking community. What we are attempting with the Summer Reading Program workshop sessions is to illustrate how non-Spanish speakers can make connections and work collaboratively with others in their communities to bring the spirit of Día to everyone in their communities. The spirit of Día can work in any community with any non-dominant culture. One of the YS staff members in Burke County, NC created a festival with the Hmong as the focal point, as they are a large minority group in her community. This is the type of program where the “spirit” of Día is in full force.

5. Can you give us 3 “best practices”?
-- Forge links with members of your community. Work with school, religious, and cultural liaisons to forge ties between the library staff and the particular group you are trying to reach.
-- Learn about the people, their culture, and even a few words of their language and ask them for their help. Show them respect for being the “experts” of their own lives. Food is a universal language that everyone wants to share and everyone loves to talk about themselves.
-- Be genuinely interested in the people. If you are doing Día or any programming just to get brownie points, it will fall flat. Everyone, especially children, will eventually see through a fake.
-- Plan activities, events you would enjoy participating in yourself. If you are having a good time, the feeling is infectious.

6. I always ask this question when interviewing someone for Pat. Will you tell us one of your favorite examples of bookjoy?
I love to have someone read to me. As a librarian and a mother, I do lots of reading to others. My husband even likes me to read to him. I think that’s why many librarians are so fond of audio books. It’s like getting a pedicure at a salon – you could do it yourself, but there is something so much more decedent about having someone else do it for you.

Thank you, Lori, for taking time to answer these questions.