Go on Record: Día Program Registration

Día, El día de los niños,El día de los libros/Children’s Day,Book Day, is a daily commitment: day by day, día por día. Hundreds of annual Día events occur across the country in April. In the spirit of Día, these book fiestas are literacy celebrations that unite communities. Often reading advocates including parents and families collaborate in planning how best to share bookjoy. Join us by insuring that Día is celebrated at your libraries and schools and make sure to promote their local event(s) by registering your program in the 2013 National Día Program Registry. I'm so grateful to ALSC (Association of Library Service to Children)  and REFORMA (National Association to Promote Library and Information Services to Latinos and the Spanish Speaking) for collaborating with me in expanding Día's impact. In 2013, let's share bookjoy and help grow a nation of readers.

First Year of Estela & Raúl Mora Honor Awards

I am always inspired when I read the annual applications for the Mora Award. How wonderful that my good friends Kay and Dan Moore, both educators, wanted to honor a few of the other libraries which, in the opinion of the REFORMA Mora Award Committee, also merited special recognition. Congratulations again to all the libraries that applied.

We have a long way to go to inspire every library in the country to embrace Día and linking all children to books, languages and cultures throughout the year, with an annual April Día celebration of that good work. Join us by promoting this family literacy initiative in your own community. Let's share bookjoy and grow a nation of readers!

“We are delighted to help honor those who are doing such a wonderful job celebrating El día de los niños/El día de los libros.  Nurturing a love of books is one way to a meaningful life and a civil world for children and families from all backgrounds.  All who attend Dia events are inspired by the dedication of the sponsors and the enthusiasm of the participants.  We are also supporting outstanding Dia programs because of our love and respect for Pat Mora and her vision.” Dan and Kay Moore

It's an honor to be among the first Mora Honor Award winners. I am pleased to accept this recognition on behalf of my organization, the District of Columbia Public Library. -- Robin Imperial, Manager Mount Pleasant Library, DCPL

Sacramento Public Library is very excited to be one of the Honor Recipients for the 2012 Estela and Raúl Mora Award. Our staff, volunteers, Friends, and community partners worked diligently to provide a wide variety of family-friendly multicultural programs, and to inspire a love of books and reading on the part of children in our area. We are honored to have our efforts recognized. -- Erica Naranjo, Librarian/Teen/Adult Services, Sacramento Public Library

King County Library System is thrilled to have received an honor award for Día de los Niños/Día de los Libros programming. This year KCLS had 100% branch participation for Día--a truly collaborative effort. All in the name of reading and books across generations. Thank you to the Mora Award Committee, Kay and Dan Moore, W.K. Kellogg Foundation, and Pat Mora for this honor. -- José M. García, Jr., Librarian/Teen/Reference Services, King County Library System

Mora Award Judging

I'm grateful to the five dedicated REFORMA members who are currently busy reading the 2012 Estela and Raúl Mora Award  applications. Each application conveys the commitment of librarians, educators and community members willing to invest their resources and talents in spreading bookjoy, alegría en los libros. It's exciting to report that this year, we have 16 applications from 9 states: AZ,CA, CO, FL, IL, NM, NY, TX, WA. We'll announce the winner in October. I applaud and am deeply grateful to each institution that hosted a Día celebration and that took the time to submit an application. I am also, of course, grateful to the judges.

Happy Día!

When we first started celebrating El día de los niños/El día de los libros, Children's Day/Book Day in 1996, we focused on April 30th, El Día del niño in Mexico, the observance that inspired me to promote celebrating children and linking that celebration to literacy. REFORMA (National Association to Promote Library and Information Services to Latinos and the Spanish-Speaking) was my first organizational partner in this work. Thanks to support from my friend Dr. Dan Moore who was then at the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, ALSC (Association of Library Service to Children) offered to become Día’s home in 2004. (See Día Visual History.)

April, a month with many literary and literacy celebrations, now includes many Día celebrations throughout the month. I love the fact that Día is a community-based family literacy initiative and that schools and libraries select the specific date to have their book fiesta.

Soon we’ll begin thinking and planning for Día’s 17th anniversary in April 2013. Today, we celebrate a month of honoring children and exciting them about books, languages and cultures. Thanks to each of you who was part of a Día celebration this month, to USBBY (United States Board on Books for Young People) that has steadily supported Día, and to Albert Whitman & Co., Myrick Marketing & Media, and Tricycle Press. I had a wonderful time at Discovery Green in Houston last weekend, and on April 30th, I’ll be at Burnet and Kohlberg Elementary Schools in my home city of El Paso, Texas.

Special thanks to my web team Laurina Cashin & Bobbie Combs, to the new Día Author and Illustrator Ambassadors , REFORMA, ALSC and to the following partners listed on the ALSC Dia site: Arte Público, Charlesbridge Publishing, Cinco Punto Press, HarperCollins, Lee & Low Books, Lorito Books, Peachtree Publishers, Random House, NCTE (National Council of Teachers of English,) W.K. Kellogg Foundation.

Gracias! Thanks!

Meet the 2011 Mora Award Winners

I'm so pleased that the contact personnel at the two 2011 Mora Award winning libraries agreed to a blog interview. First we'll hear from Sylvia Cisneros, Senior Librarian, Youth Services at the Santa Ana Public Library (CA.)

1. How did you first become interested in Día and how long ago was that?
SC: I had the privilege to live in Mexico for eleven years, between the ages of one and twelve. During that time, I learned and lived everything about the Mexican community like never imagined. Día de los Niños has been one of the most important celebrations within my family and the Mexican community. Schools, businesses and large organizations close every year on this day to dedicate it to the children in Mexico. This was not an exemption in our small town, called El Granjenal in the state of Michoacan. This celebration stayed with me all my life, and therefore, when I started conducting Spanish storytime in 2002, I always had the desire to incorporate Día as part of my themes. It wasn’t until 2007 that I decided to celebrate, and without knowing that Día already existed within libraries, I created my own program. It was a simple program, with games, stories, and cupcakes for the kids.

Sylvia's school

2. When did you begin to plan your 2011 celebration? Did you work with a team and who created the team?
SC: Our planning for our 2011 celebration began in November of 2010. This was going to be our 3rd year celebration and we knew we wanted to have a greater celebration than what we had in our previous years, therefore Lupita Vega (Youth Services Principal Librarian) and I, decided that we were going to have all the youth services staff involved in the project.

Sylvia and her team
Top row, L to R: Michelle Loera, Linda Hanks, Lupita Vega, Olga Gallardo, Rose Navarro
Bottom row, L to R: Elvia Hernandez, Sylvia Cisneros, Kevin Le

3. What do you think made your 2011 celebration special?
SC: The enthusiasm from our team members and the community was great, and this made the entire planning process and the event itself to come out as expected. The invited authors, book sale, and special performances made this celebration especial!

4. How do you and your library feel about winning the Mora Award?
SC: Día has become our most attended event in our library and therefore the most important. Winning the Mora Award is very satisfying; it brings us joy! Most important it lets us know in that we are doing a wonderful job promoting literacy, cultures and celebrating children all at the same time.

5. What did you learn from your celebration this year?

SC: I have learned that Día can really bring families together and that it can be an event that not only promotes the importance of reading but that it informs our community on different services that they probably are not aware of and from which they can benefit from.

6. What three key pieces of advice would you give to those ready to plan their first Día celebration in spring 2012? Advice to those who have celebrated before?
SC: For those libraries that will be planning their first Día, my advice would be:

1) Start planning and promoting early 2) Always work with a team 3) Don’t be afraid to go big and ask organizations for help.

For those who have celebrated before, my advice is to continue with the celebration, and to find ways of making their event larger and better each year.

7. Do you think of yourself as creative?
SC: I believe everyone is creative. As we start imagining, ideas come out. When I plan any events, I think of originality, and look for alternatives and possibilities, but I always think about the audience we will be serving in the program. I focus on the words FUN and EDUCATIONAL and proceed from there.

8. Why are Día and sharing bookjoy important to you?
SC: Día is very important for me and the staff here at Santa Ana because we are not only celebrating with the community an event that they respect and believe in but because we incorporate and make it stronger by promoting the joy of books. We try to promote the pleasure of reading, the outcomes of a good reader, and the importance of sharing books as a family.

My name is Emily Ziglinski and I am the Latino Liaison for the Springfield Public Library (OR.) I have been working in libraries for about 8 years and with the Latino community for over 20. Being a librarian is the best job in the world. I am soooo lucky to do what I do.

1. How did you first become interested in Día and how long ago was that?
EZ: My first library job was with Multnomah Public Library in Portland, Oregon. I was hired as a bilingual clerk and worked at the St Johns branch. I started working for MCL in 2003, the year after they had won the Mora Award. We had a wonderful bilingual Library Assistant who was in charge of organizing our Día event. I learned a lot from her in how she involved our community and really made it a neighborhood celebration. My contribution to the event was helping with the table activities, which were literacy based. My experience helping with and observing the Día events at MCL during my three years working there, definitely helped me be prepared for organizing the event here at Springfield Public Library.

2. When did you begin to plan your 2011 celebration? Did you work with a team and who created the team?
EZ: I had a small, but dedicated team for our Día event; our wonderful library volunteer, Faviola Arceo Garcia and the Latino Liaison for the Girl Scouts in our area, Martha Morales, and myself. We started working on ideas in January. I have already had community members and organizations asking to be involved for Día 2012!

3. What do you think made your 2011 celebration special?  EZ: Community involvement

4. How do you and your library feel about winning the Mora Award?
EZ: We are ecstatic! We are pleased as a smaller library to be recognized for our work reflecting and embracing our entire community. The monetary award also triples our program budget for Día, for this we are VERY thankful.

5. What did you learn from your celebration this year?
EZ: I need to schedule more people to help with clean-up! This is true, but seriously, I think that the thing I learned most from Día this year is that once you have your base program plan in place, it is easy for the event to generate excitement and grow on its own. This was my second year planning Día for SPL and so I had a general idea of what the day would look like. I could then concentrate my energy on bringing more people to the table. With each person that gets involved more energy and ideas are generated. It becomes organic – growing and blooming with only a little care. It is fun to watch and to be a part of.

6. What three key pieces of advice would you give to those ready to plan their first Día celebration in spring 2012? Advice to those who have celebrated before?
EZ: First Día – 1) Know your community: who will come, who can help, what languages and cultures do you need to consider when planning, etc. 2) Give away books in the different languages of your community if you can. We did not have enough for every child, but we had a raffle. Kids were so excited to have a new book. I think it also helps tie the whole day together – a fun day dedicated to BOOKJOY! 3) Take good notes to build on your base for the future.

To those who have celebrated before: One of the goals of Día is promoting literacy, be open minded about what can be considered a literacy-based activity. Some parents have a low literacy level, so including crafts & activities that they can participate in with their children is important. For example we had a piñata making workshop as part of our celebration. Parents and children talked about designs and parents shared stories with their children. These narratives are a part of literacy.

7. Do you think of yourself as creative? EZ: Yes, but not when talking about myself. (smile)

8. Why are Día and sharing bookjoy important to you?
EZ: I believe in the power of knowledge and the power of community, I guess that is why I became a public librarian. Día and bookjoy are really about embracing these two concepts. Plus, Día is about celebrating children, and programming for children is one aspect I love about my job.

Winners of the 2011 Mora Award Announced!

Congratulations to the Santa Ana Public Library (CA) and the Springfield Public Library (OR) winners of the 2011 Estela and Raúl Mora Award!

The award was established in 2000 by author Pat Mora and her family to honor their parents and to motivate libraries to celebrate "Día," El día de los niños/El día de los libros, Children's Day/Book Day on April 30th.

Read the full press release in English and in Spanish.

Who won the 2011 Estela and Raúl Mora Award?

Twelve wonderful applicants. REFORMA will announce the two winners next week. My congratulations and thanks to all who applied and my thanks to the REFORMA Mora Award Committee, especially the chair Beatriz Pascual Wallace. For more information about the award, go here -- http://www.patmora.com/dia/mora_award.htm.

REFORMA in Denver

Luis Herrera, Ramiro Salazar, Pat Mora, Carmen Peña Abrego

I felt so fortunate attending REFORMA's fourth national conference, also its 40th Anniversary, two weeks ago. REFORMA was founded by Dr. Arnulfo D. Trejo in 1971. An ALA affiliate, REFORMA is the National Association to Promote Library and Information Services to Latinos and the Spanish-Speaking. As I said in my luncheon presentation, many groups talk about diversity, but REFORMA lives that commitment so though the focus is “Elevating Services to Latinos,” the members are, like our country, of varying ethnicities.


Dr. Arnulfo D. Trejo


On a personal note, it was so exciting for me to have my wonderful son-in-law, Dr. Roger Martinez, a historian, and my co-author, my older daughter Libby, at the lunch. The librarians were quick to take her photo which made me smile.

How energized I was by library students and experienced librarians so excited about Día. Dr. Jamie Naidoo, a professor at the University of Alabama, organized a Día Showcase and provided a helpful PowerPoint. He and I read Book Fiesta!, I spoke about Día’s history, Linda Mays, from ALSC shared information about the upcoming Día web site, and Beatriz Pascual, chair of the Mora Award, spoke about the award process. Energetic Jamie had organized a poster session and various Día librarians brought posters and information about their events. So inspiring!


Beatriz Pascual




Dr. Jamie Naidoo



Kathleen Barrett Dusenbery

In my remarks, I said that some people immediately “get Día.” They understand that linking all children to books, languages and culture is actually patriotic work since literacy is essential for a true democracy. So many committed librarians bring so much creativity and energy to their Día work. I smiled when one such librarian, Kathleen Barrett Dusenbery from Longmont Public Library in CO, later e-mailed and said , “I do get Día!”

I hope you “get Día” too. Culminating celebrations of the day-by-day commitment to link children and books will be celebrated next April, Día’s Sweet Sixteenth Anniversary. Be part of extending the Mother’s Day/Father’s Day tradition to Children. Join us in sharing bookjoy and annually celebrating Children’s Day/Book Day, El día de los niños/El día de los libros in many languages. We want Día celebrated in homes, libraries, schools, colleges/universities, museums, community centers, etc. For more information about Día including a planning booklet for your Día year, visit http://www.patmora.com/dia/diaplanning.htm.

Día’s 15th Anniversary Celebration at ALA

How I wish that the many Día supporters across the country could have been with us for the Día celebration session at ALA’s annual conference in New Orleans last month. Below you’ll see the delicious cake. My thanks to ALSC, and particularly Linda Mays, for arranging for the cake and music. The group cutting the cake -- Lucia Gonzalez, Jeanette Larson, Pat Mora, Cynthia Richey, and Oralia Garza de Cortes -- were all part of the panel. It was such a pleasure to hear each contribute so eloquently to describing Día’s journey.

L to R: Lucia Gonzalez, Jeanette Larson, Pat Mora,
 Cynthia Richey, Oralia Garza de Cortes



Celebrations can allow us to reflect on past successes and to unite in our vision for the future. I spoke of the sunflower, indigenous to Mexico and filling the air with its yellow exuberance, as a good symbol for Día. I hope you’ll print this booklet that includes my vision for Día’s future, many Nuggets or hints for planning your Día year, and 30 reflections on Día’s important work.

I wish our literacy challenges received the kind of attention that sports events and celebrities receive. They don’t. Our children are this nation’s future, though, and thousands of children need literacy advocates to creatively link all children to books, languages and cultures. Join us!

Pat and her friend and web manager Laurina Cashin at
Dia's 15th  Anniversary Celebration, ALA New Orleans, 2011.

Thank You!

In these final days of celebrating Día's 15th Anniversary, I wish to thank particular organizations and publishers who helped Spread the Día Word this year. Gracias to those listed below and special thanks to my Día partners REFORMA: the National Association to Promote Library and Information Services to Latinos and the Spanish-Speaking and the Association of Library Service to Children, (ALSC) a division of the American Library Association (ALA.)

I hope that the list of organizations that promote Día keeps growing and growing. Spread the Día Word!

photo by Michelle Brea

In alphabetical order:

Arte Público Press
California State Library
Charlesbridge Publishing
Children’s Book Press
Cinco Punto Press
HarperCollins Children’s Books
National Association for the Education of Young Children
National Council of Teachers of English
New Mexico Governor’s Office
State Library of North Carolina
Paper Tigers
Random House Children’s Books
Reading is Fundamental (RIF)
Southeast REFORMA Chapter
Texas State Library and Archives
United States Board on Books for Young People (USBBY)
University of Arizona Press
WETA (Colorin Colorado and Reading Rockets)

A View of Dia: Past, Present and Future

We asked Oralia Garza de Cortés to write about her role in Dia's history, her work with Día California, and her dreams for Dia's future.

PAST

It was the mid nineties, Bill Clinton was our President, and the Spanish sociologist and prolific author and scholar Manuel Castells had just authored the first of his three volume Information Age: Economy, Society and Culture (1996), coining the term ‘fourth world’ to refer to pockets of communities in first world countries, places like the barrios and ghettos that look similar to third world communities with young people suffering from a lack of equitable education, bleak job prospects and limited opportunities, the devastating effects of urban poverty and globalization. Midnight basketball was considered a panacea for solving the problems of disengaged youth. With limited staff and budgets (sounds familiar?) library outreach services were difficult to accomplish.

So when Pat Mora called to mull over the “What if?” question: “What if we took a traditional children’s day in Mexico, El día de los niños, and added the concepts of books, culture and language to the mix to create a day to celebrate children and literacy? It was a brilliant idea and a win-win for everyone involved: for the children and their families, the libraries and the librarians trying desperately to bring Latino families into the library fold. It was a recipe for success!

Just a few years earlier, then fellow children’s librarian Sandra Rios Balderrama and I had created the Children and Young Adult Services Committee of REFORMA, the National Association to Promote Library and Information Services to Latinos and the Spanish speaking, an affiliate of the American Library Association. Having the public space and the mechanism set up to work with this amazing professional organization of librarians was wonderful because we were able to take Día before the REFORMA Board and make this project an important part of our work in promoting library services for Latino children and families. The support for Día from REFORMA librarians was phenomenal. Some, like the Tucson chapter of REFORMA embraced Día from day one, implementing a Día program in a library located in Tucson‘s barrio and, more importantly. reaching out to Latino children and families. Día worked because it was a simple idea developed from the bottom up. It was flexible, and could be shaped and implemented in any way shape or form. It fit community needs and it built on the strength and abilities of the librarians and the communities they were working with. More importantly, Día worked because the community saw that libraries were speaking their language, inviting them in and honoring and respecting their culture and their traditions. What a concept!

PRESENT

The amazing thing about Día is the wonderful support it received from all corners of the library world. In Texas, Día worked because library visionaries like Pat Smith from the Texas Library Association and Jeanette Larson, then working with the Texas State Library, found ways to incorporate Día into their structures and developed ways to implement it at the local level. In California, Día was built from the bottom up by the likes of library administrators like Mark Smith who oversees the Riverside County Public Library. Smith observed Día’s development from his Texas library leadership days and believed in the power of Día to make a difference in community support for libraries. With his steady and persistent influence, Smith wrote the original grants that made Día possible through LSTA funding. He was instrumental in convincing then California State Librarian Susanne Flint to implement Día statewide. Flint brought in library consultant Cindy Mediavilla from the California State Library, who in turn sought the services of Rosario Garza as Director of the Southern California Library System, the administrative body for the Día project known as Día California, a statewide initiative that works with libraries to promote literacy through Día. This year alone, over fifty-five libraries from across California applied for awards to support Día programs by providing library programs in support of literacy. The program offers eligible libraries with a small award to bring a children’s author or other literary program to the library. The program also offers free bilingual books for distribution during the Día program. Día California is an excellent example of what state libraries can do to promote and implement literacy and library programming for Latino children and families, particularly if they utilize Día as a way to promote family literacy.

FUTURE

 If we look at the original intent for Children’s Day, established in the 1920’s by the World Conference for the Wellbeing of Children held in Geneva, Switzerland, we can see that the concern for the well-being of children was what led to establishing Children’s Day in the first place. What if librarians convened the children’s advocacy networks in their communities and looked at the needs of Latino children and all children for that matter, and resolved that they would work on those issues that affect children’s learning, children’s literacy, and the overall well being of children? What if we resolved to provide education programs and services for families, working with the many agencies and organizations, teaching parents to advocate for their children’s needs, be it in the area of bilingual and first language story times or health and education and equity advocacy in public schools? Radical ideas that require radical action? Hardly! It’s called participatory democracy. It’s what ordinary middle class parents utilize to get the services they need for their children and their communities. And it works. Why can’t we make this also work for low income and the new Americans? The future of America’s children and of this country lies in this balance.
  Many thanks to our guest blogger, Oralia Garza de Cortés. She is a leading voice for bilingual and multicultural children’s literature and an ardent advocate of equity in library services for Latino children and families. A Past President of REFORMA, the National Association to Promote Library and Information Services to Latinos and the Spanish Speaking, an ALA affiliate, Garza de Cortés co-founded the Pura Belpré Award and the Children and Young Adult Services Committee (CYASC) of REFORMA, She has lead REFORMA and the library community in implementing El Día de los Niños/El Día de los libros.

Kudos

From a recent press release: "REFORMA, the National Association to Promote Library & Information Services to Latinos and the Spanish Speaking, an affiliate of the American Library Association, announces Oralia Garza de Cortés and Susana Hinojosa as the 2010 Arnulfo D. Trejo Librarians of the Year (LOTY). The award is named in honor of Dr. Arnulfo D. Trejo, the founder and first president of REFORMA and is made possible by the generous financial support of the Trejo Foster Foundation for Hispanic Library Education." Both Garza de Cortés and Hinojosa have long and distinguished careers in service to libraries. For more information please see the REFORMA website.

We also have news from REFORMA's Southeast chapter that we want to share. The winners of the first Sara Howrey El día de los niños/El día de los libros Mini-Grant are the Charlotte Mecklenburg Library of Charlotte, North Carolina, and the Thomas B. Norton Public Library of Gulf Shores, Alabama. Charlotte Mecklenburg's theme for this year is Día as "Diversity in Action" and the Norton Library will be holding it's first Día celebration.

Congratulations to all the winners! 

Doesn’t a night of storytelling sound like a grand family literacy program? REFORMA is planning such March festivities for Noche de Cuentos. The press release from REFORMA reads:

“The National Association to Promote Library & Information Services to Latinos and the Spanish Speaking is launching Noche de Cuentos 2010, a family literacy focus program generously supported by the American Library Association as part of ALA President Camila Alire’s Family Literacy Focus Initiative. Noche de Cuentos will be celebrated March 20-27, 2010 in conjunction with World Storytelling Day, observed during the spring equinox on March 20.

REFORMA invites families from Latino communities across the United States to join the global community in the celebration of World Storytelling Day and gather at their libraries to share stories, songs and experiences from their families, their communities, or their countries.

“REFORMA believes that storytelling and the oral traditions are key in the transmission and preservation of culture, as well as a significant tool in developing literacy skills,” says Loida Garcia-Febo, President of REFORMA. The mission of Noche de Cuentos is to promote and preserve the art of storytelling within our Latino communities in the US. “Our language and our stories bind us together, they make us stronger,” says Garcia-Febo.”

In writing about her presidential initiative, Camila Alire noted in the November issue of American Libraries, “The plans [to develop family literacy projects and programs that can be replicated by libraries] are in the spirit of ALA’s Association of Library Service to Children’s El día de los Niños/El día de los libros (Children’s Day/Book Day), the family literacy program founded by Pat Mora in collaboration with the ALA affiliate REFORMA.” How wonderful to see Día’s influence spreading!

Yuri Morales created this amazing poster!

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!

When the Great Ones Were Little Ones

I’ve been wanting to suggest the fine reviews by Oralia Garza de Cortés in the fall/winter issue of the REFORMA Newsletter. Oralia reviews four children’s book biographies in Lectorum Publications’ Spanish-language series, “Cuando Los Grandes Eran Pequeños” (“When the Great Ones Were Little Ones”). Like Oralia, I thoroughly enjoyed reading about José Martí, Pablo Neruda, Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz, and Julia de Burgos. I congratulate Teresa Mlawer, Lectorum President, for this excellent resource.

Mock Pura Belpré

It's the time of year when many libraries are holding mock Newbery and Caldecott Awards. The ALSC listserv recently reported the results of the Mock Belpré that was sponsored by the Heartland Chapter of REFORMA on Jan. 3. You can see the list of books up for discussion and the link to the program at http://skyways.lib.ks.us/orgs/reforma/belpre08.html

The honored books were:
Winner: Text
The Surrender Tree by Margarita Engle

Honor Books: Text
Animal Poems of the Iguazu by Francisco Alarcon
Perfect Day for Dreaming by Benjamin Alire Saenz

Winner: Illustration
Papa and Me by Arthur Dorros, illus. By Rudy Gutierrez

Honor Books: Illustration
Animal Poems of the Iguazu by Francisco Alarcon, illus. by Maya Christina Gonzalez
Quinito Day and Night by Ina Cumpiano, illus. by Jose Ramirez

Thanks to Jean Hatfield for the news.

Críticas Interview with Rose Treviño

You can read an excellent interview with the remarkable Rose Treviño in Críticas,"Serving Spanish-Language Patrons -- A Q & A with Rose Treviño." Rose is the Youth Services Coordinator for the Houston Public Library, a library system that serves one of the biggest Spanish-speaking populations in the country. She is a passionate advocate for Latino children's literature and library services to Latinos.
Here's what she has to say about her new book:

You edited The Pura Belpré Awards: Celebrating Latino Authors and Illustrators (ALA Editions, 2006). What motivated you to create this wonderful resource for libraries and educators?

This was actually an invitation made to me by the staff at ALSC. I was immediately excited about the possibility, and knew that with the right team in place, the book could certainly be written. The book would not have been what it is without the help of Oralia Garza de Cortés, Sandra Balderrama, Ana-Elba Pavón, and Jean Hatfield. Having Oralia and Sandra on the team provided us with the award’s vision, background, and history. Ana and Jean brought their experience of working on the award committee and the promotional efforts they put together in their communities.

Pura Belpré Awards News

ALSC and REFORMA recently announced two pieces of exciting news about the Pura Belpré Awards. First, they will now be presented every year instead of every other year, a good sign that there are more books published now that can be considered for the award than when the award was first established in 1996.
Second, to raise funds to support the award Celebración, REFORMA is holding a fabulous raffle in which you can win a piece of original art from The Storyteller's Candle/La velita de los cuentos (Children's Book Press, 2008), a new picture book biography of Pura Belpré by Lucía González, illustrated by Lulu Delacre. Raffle tickets are just $10.00 and will be available at the ALA conference in Anaheim.