Want to Start a Día Family Book Club?

The Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC) is now accepting applications for mini-grants intended to prepare libraries to incorporate Día into their existing programs throughout the entire year.  Mini-grants will be used to initiate a Día Family Book Club Program in libraries.  Up to 12 mini-grants will be awarded at $5,000 each.

Intended as an expansion of El día de los niños/El día de los libros (Día), the mini-grants will be awarded to libraries that demonstrate a need to better address the diverse backgrounds within their communities.

The mini-grants are part of the Everyone Reads @ your library grant awarded to ALSC from the Dollar General Literacy Foundation.  In addition to these mini-grants, funding from this grant will also allow ALSC to create a Día Family Book Club Toolkit that will be accessible to all.

The deadline for receipt of applications is February 1^st, 2013.

See Pat's website for more information about Día.

May 19, Pat @ Pen Your Own Adventures - Stories to Our Children

Families celebrating moms writing their life stories? How fortunate I felt to be part of such a positive literacy celebration! Many of the moms were Spanish-speaking and felt so proud that their families were at a party to honor these new writers. The room was decorated, the food line was popular, but what made the event unique was that mothers were proudly carrying the stories they’d written and illustrated. And imagine! The dedicated staff of Arlington Public Library (TX) had typed the stories, scanned the art, and produced a hard-back book that’s now part of the library’s collection. The more I listened to the staff talk about the program, Arlington Reads, the more impressed I was by the vision of this library system to be a literacy leader in its community. How I treasure such creative literacy leaders.


Savor summer reading!

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.

Early Literacy Project

Sandra Lamm, Early Childhood Coordinator with the Library Department in Fort Worth, Texas, shared a project created by a family at one of the city's Early Childhod Resource Centers. Sandra wrote "Erica Rodrigues said that Let’s Eat! ¡A Comer! is the favorite book of her daughters, Julianna and Brianna, ages 2 and 3. Mrs. Rodrigues said they read the book over and over, and she said, 'What I like about this book is that to be happy you only need simple things.'


So for their project they covered a piece of Styrofoam with construction paper to make a table, and then replicated the food that the family shared in the book with items they found around the house. We took a couple of pictures – So creative!"

Sandra also wrote a description of her library's program. "Early Childhood Matters (EMC) is a program of the Fort Worth Library, launched in 2006 in response to the number of children entering kindergarten without the skills they needed to be successful in school. ECM is a neighborhood-based free program that helps parents and other caregivers of children from birth to age five learn how to prepare their children for kindergarten and beyond. Parenting sessions, resource materials, and high quality children’s books are offered in English and Spanish in six high-need neighborhoods in Fort Worth. The program is supported by the City of Fort Worth, a grant through the US Department of Health and Human Services, and collaboration with many community partners.


ECM focuses on early literacy and pre-reading skills. Pat Mora’s beautiful bi-lingual books capture the interest of adults and children alike, support early language and pre-reading development, and reflect family and cultural values. Our participants are delighted with them."

The Spirit of Día

A new professional resource, Celebrating Cuentos: Promoting Latino Children’s Literature and Literacy in Classrooms and Libraries, (Libraries Unlimited, 2011) edited by Jamie Campbell Naidoo just released. Colorín Colorado has reprinted the chapter on Día, "The Spirit of Día : Celebrating Cuentos Every Day," co-authored by Jamie with Irania Patterson (Charlotte Mecklenburg Public Library.) You can read it here.

Learn more about the book here.

15 Día Nuggets: #11 Families as Día Partners

To assist those of you planning Día celebrations at your schools, libraries, etc., we’re sharing 15 Día Nuggets, 15 lists of 15 items to assist you in your planning. This month during our second Díapalooza, we’ll finish with Nuggets 11, 12, and 13; showcase the 15 Día Dynamos, and share Bookjoy quotes from kids, our final Nugget.

All 15 Nuggets are available as completed on Pat's web site, individually and as a single downloadable packet.

15 Día Nuggets for Día’s 15th Anniversary

#11 Families as Día Partners

Since Día is a daily commitment, creatively involve parents, adult and young adult family members throughout the year as literacy partners. This list focuses on the particular role libraries and schools play in empowering families who may not view themselves as literacy mentors. Diverse strategies are essential for motivating all community families to be reading families.


1. Provide staff training to increase the effectiveness of literacy programming and outreach for diverse populations within the community.

2. Affirm the importance of multilingual families as literacy partners by using multiple languages in greetings and on signs, ads, web pages, graphics, posters and in family bookjoy sessions throughout the year.

3. Partner with families who speak other languages in presenting bilingual story times, programs, and literacy games.

4. Demystify the library with family tours and presentations that address the interests and concerns of the families served, showcase resources and encourage participation in programs such as Summer Reading.

5. Engage families as storytellers and in creating and sharing literacy posters and kits, and in exploring ways to create and share stories digitally.

6. Model creative strategies for instilling bookjoy at home such as sharing family stories and reading together.

7. Be innovative in helping families create libraries at home, seeking book donations where possible.

8. Introduce and model reading, writing, and arts activities including having families write, illustrate and share their own books.

9. Establish monthly family literacy nights at which students, teachers, and families collaborate in presenting thematic storytelling, puppet shows, etc. to the community.

10. Provide relevant sessions to assist families to be literacy advocates in their family and community, tailoring sessions to their reading practices and languages.

11. With families as partners, plan, implement and assess family literacy leadership training as part of your efforts to empower families within the school or library community.

12. Start an outreach storytelling program in which families volunteer at hospitals and retirement homes or in which older children read aloud to younger ones.

13. Form book clubs for the various literacy levels in your community by assessing the impact of literacy and literature programs on the various communities served.

14. Encourage families to visit the local public and school libraries, to volunteer, check out materials, and collaborate in Día celebration programming.

15. Invite families to be active members of your Día celebration planning committee. You’ll wonder how you got along without their fresh ideas and enthusiasm.

15 Día Nuggets: #9 Literacy-focused Craft Ideas for Children and Families

One more Nugget today, resulting in #s 1-9 available individually and as a downloadable packet.

To assist those of you planning Día celebrations at your schools, libraries, etc., we’re sharing 15 Día Nuggets, 15 lists of 15 items to assist you in your planning. During our second Díapalooza during April 2011, we’ll showcase the 15 Día Dynamos, 15 Mora Award winners and the 15 Día Nuggets, etc.

15 Día Nuggets for Día’s 15th Anniversary

Nugget #9 Literacy-focused Craft Ideas for Children and Families

Here’s a wonderful opportunity to involve teen or college helpers and service organizations.

1. Make paper plate clocks, printing “Time to Read” on each clock face. Decorate.

2. Embellish canvas bags with fabric paint and use as book bags.

3. Create personalized bookmarks, bookends, and bookcases (use cardboard boxes) using stick-on foam shapes and gems and colored stickers. Use blank stickers too, so kids can write a reading slogan or book recommendations.

4. Plant a Poetry Garden. Write poems, paste them on sticks and plant them outside of the school or library.

5. Make accordion books with the last panel pre-printed with the words LOVES READING! Children can write their name on the beginning panels and decorate the book with collage, colored pencils or paints.

6. Make papier-mâché globes and let each child note the different countries they’ve read about with colored sticker dots. Use the globes in a display of books set in other countries.

7. Make memory books with stories and pictures about reading and books.

8. Take photos of kids reading in a special chair (a reading throne) they’ve helped decorate. Buy cardboard or foam photo frames that each child can decorate.

9. Construct masks of favorite characters from books.

10. Distribute envelopes containing a pre-made paper booklet and cutouts of pictures and photos. Each child writes a story about the pictures and uses them to illustrate the story.

11. For very young children, create reading puppets using cutouts glued to craft sticks.

12. Use recycled papers (printed on one side) to make personal reading logs. Use recycled book jackets or patterned papers for covers.

13. Create necklaces of words.

14. Create a Día Alphabet mural or frieze, associating a word or short phrase about Día with each letter of the alphabet such as “F – Families.” Decorate and hang on the wall or use as a banner in a hallway.

15. Use a template to create book-shaped magnets. Color image with colored pencils and laminate, then glue magnet to back.

This Month's Día Dynamo!

This month Pat honors librarian Elva Garza for her faithful support of Día since its beginnings. Elva has advocated for Día on local, state and national levels, has planned celebrations, and has participated in conference programs that educate others and extend Día's reach.

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

"I had never thought about being a librarian until I got a job my sophomore year of college as a work-study student in the reference department at Southwest Texas State University. I was amazed at how the librarians could find the answer to any questions that came across the reference desk and I wanted to be able to do that. I went off to library school at the University of North Texas with every intention of being an academic librarian but got my first job working for San Antonio Public as a reference librarian. After 5 years, I came to work for the Austin Public Library as a Branch Manager and I am currently working as a Regional Branch Manager overseeing five branches."

"In Austin, I have always worked in communities where visiting a library for enjoyment is not necessarily something families do, so it has been my job and the staff I work with to introduce families to what libraries have to offer them. Día de los Niños/Día de los Libros celebration has been one of the programs we have used to do this."

2. What to you is the biggest reward of being involved with Día?
"I think my biggest reward from being involved with Día has been the friendships and partnerships that I have seen develop over the years. These partnerships have brought new learning opportunities for the families we serve all year round. One of these programs has been the Family Learning Nights held in schools throughout Austin. Several of our Día partners get together to provide literacy based activities for families learning math, reading, or science skills. Families receive free books along with library cards."

3. What ideas do you have for Día 2011 and what are your hopes for the 15th Anniversary celebration?
"From [a small event in a church] we have grown to a citywide event where we had as many as 6,000 attend one year. We are just beginning the planning for this year’s Día celebration. We are talking about a month long celebration with events going on in our schools and libraries."

4. What are you reading now?
"I am currently reading The Red Pyramid by Rick Riordan. I have a ten-year-old buddy and this was his pick. He is a reluctant reader so when ever he asks me to read something with him I jump up and read."

5. What is your favorite example of Bookjoy either as a child or as adult?
"I was never a big reader as a kid; it was not until in college when I first discovered books written by Latino authors that I felt an excitement in reading. When I first read books by Tomás Rivera, Rudolfo Anaya, and Gabriel García Márquez, I was recognizing my family’s stories. These were the stories I heard from my grandfather and father -- the stories of the curandera, of living in a migrant camp and working in the fields, of brothers going off to war."

Literacy Nights at the Public Library

Anne Kissinger of the Milwaukee County Federated Library System wrote about "Literacy Nights at the Public Library" on this week's ALSC list-serv. We liked this idea so much we wanted to share it.

The Wauwatosa Public Library, a member of MCFLS, held two literacy nights each with a different approach. The first, for adults, was a summer reading promotion and included
communication, research, vocabulary games, book talks, story telling, library support and library programs. Kissinger credits the successful participation to the help of Title 1 teachers who spoke with parents/caretakers one-on-one or sent home invitations to the event, as many of the adults were not library users.

The second literacy night was held at an elementary school and included adults and children. The public library held read-alouds to different grade levels and talked about the summer reading program. Other activities included showing the viral video "Gotta Keep Reading," an author visit, reader's theatre by students and a book swap.

What great methods for attracting adults and children to the library and reading! What ideas do you have for "Literacy Nights"?

Do you have people attending your programs that speak a language other than English? Consult this suberb list from Language Castle, Making Families Who Speak Other Languages Feel at Home in Your Program for invaluable tips.

Literacy News

We’re catching up on some literacy related news that we didn’t get to last month. Reach Out and Read, the non-profit, national initiative that fosters reading readiness as a crucial element of school success, launched a Spanish-language version  of its website in mid-April. The ROR program already serves Latino children and families, and 86% of programs serve families for whom Spanish is their first language. The new website offers a multitude of resources including reading tips, recommended booklists, (including some of Pat’s books) guide to developmental milestones, and information on how Spanish-speaking families can support or volunteer for ROR in their communities.

Broward County FL Celebrates Día

Broward County Commission Libraries Division Celebrates Día with Children’s BookFest on April 24th
BROWARD COUNTY, FL – Broward County Library’s Children’s Bookfest is slated for Saturday, April 24, 2010, at North Regional/BC Library, 1100 Coconut Creek Blvd., Coconut Creek, from 10:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. This free festival, which celebrates children and their books, is geared for youngsters ages 3 to ten and their families.

Children’s BookFest is held in recognition of Día de los niños/Día de los libros (Children’s Day/Book Day), a national cross-cultural celebration of children and reading (April 30).The theme for this year’s Children’s BookFest is: “One World, Many Stories: The oceans link us together.” In that spirit, the festival promises all little pirates and mermaids an ocean of stories and fun, and invites them to come in costume to the event (as pirate, mermaid or other sea creature), and join the BookFest parade.

BookFest will feature professional storytellers, top-notch children’s entertainers, authors,

strolling storybook characters, hands-on crafts and free books to the first 700 children at the event. We will be also giving out 200 books in Spanish, courtesy of Hoopoe Books and All Bilingual Press.

Featured presenters include:

David Novak - Storyteller David Novak combines the simple magic of theatre with the
evocative movements and voices of the master storyteller. Novak invites kids to “Get Wet Inside the Ears” with his presentation Sea Changes: Stories of transformation and magic from sea and shore. David Novak is a gifted teller who has been nationally acclaimed for his work. He currently resides in Asheville, NC.

Shana Banana - Award-winning national children's entertainer, singer & songwriter, Shana Banana (Smith) is a vivacious and creative performer whose music has won many prestigious honors, including two Grammy nominations, and several Parents Choice awards. Shana Banana has just completed season one of “Banana Bread,” her new TV show on Florida PBS for kids. She is working on her fourth CD, an ocean-themed treasure called “Banana Beach Party USA.”

Magician Cesar Domico – This Tampa Bay-area magician, a native of Colombia, has performed at cities and events throughout the United States and South America. Once called “the best magician in Colombia,” his bilingual comedy/magic show will delight and thrill kids and parents alike.

Tales and Trails Storytellers –This renowned storytelling couple from New Mexico – Bob Kanegis and Liz Mangual - say that their stories are for “everyone older than yesterday
and younger than tomorrow.” They’ll entertain with stories from around the world, including some bilingual tales.

Others – Adding to the BookFest entertainment lineup will be: Salty Sue the Pirate (aka
Suzy Hammer); Geddy the Gecko’s new Walking on Water show, and others.

Children’s BookFest is funded by the Broward Public Library Foundation with support
from Broward Family Life Magazine and the Florida Marlins Community Foundation.
                                                           # # #

Thanks to our guest blogger Freda Mosquera, a youth services librarian with the Broward County Library.

Pat Celebrates Día in Galveston TX

I hope that you are enjoying all the Díapalooza posts as much as I am. Although I cherish the Santa Fe quiet to do my writing, I derive great energy from visiting exciting literacy and literature events. On April 3, I was in Galveston for the Rosenberg Library’s first Día celebration. Congratulations to Children’s Librarian Karen Stanley and to the staff and local teachers who helped create a day that included a treasure hunt in the library (to acquaint children and families with the different departments), a book give-away, flower making, and piñatas. Children had been given raffle tickets for every book they read in preparation for my visit, and those whose names were drawn joined me for a delicious catered lunch.

At the end of my morning presentation, thanks to the work of some dedicated teachers, the audience and I enjoyed hearing a Mexican children’s song and watching some girls dressed like the girls in the book about my mom, THE RAINBOW TULIP.

The children at this Día event received Summer Reading Club T-shirts too. Remember that Día is a great kick-off to Summer Reading and provides an opportunity for librarians at public libraries to work to collaborate with school librarians and teachers.

April: Together promote Día celebrations as an annual tradition at home, school, and the public library.
May: Together collaborate to encourage pleasure reading during May and to re-enforce the importance of Summer Reading Clubs.
June: Together insure that all children understand the when, what, and how of Summer Reading Clubs.

Our country needs reading families. Thanks to each of you who shares bookjoy and who is part of Día’s National Family.

Book Giveaway

Pat and Karen Stanley

Literacy all month long

April is packed with days and weeks honoring literature, literacy, libraries and young children and we'll be mentioning them this week. Look for ways you can support Día's goals when planning for these other events.

Today is D.E.A.R. Day -- Drop Everything and Read! It seems only fitting that we would schedule a post from Multnomah County Library in Portland, Oregon.

Multnomah County Library staff shares bookjoy with this awesome double sided bilingual reading board.

During our Día de los Niños, Día de los Libros celebrations, as we share information about the importance of parents sharing books with their children and parents learn how to foster early literacy skills to prepare their children for learning to read, we are also planning on giving out this reading board to encourage families to read at home.

We are planning on having families make Miraculous Milagros magnets so that they can hang the board on their refrigerator.

This year we will be having Latino community leaders as "guest readers" who will read to the children and encourage families to share bookjoy by doing some of the activities listed on the board.

Click here to view a pdf of the bilingual reading board.

Thanks to our guest blogger, Ana Schmitt, Bilingual Outreach Specialist at Multnomah County Library and  a Día Champion along with her LIBROS coworkers.

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!

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.

November is Family Literacy Month

We found out from the Children's Literacy Round-Up that November 1 is National Family Literacy Day and the celebration continues through the month of November. There are some great free resources available from the National Center for Family Literacy and other organizations such as Read Write Think.

Don't forget to check Pat's Dia pages on her website for more ideas on how to celebrate literacy every day.

Visits to Edinburg, Texas, Los Angeles, CA and soon--Chicago

Recently I had the pleasure of speaking to dedicated librarians in Edinburg, Texas. It had been a number of years since I’d been to South Texas and, as before, I was inspired by the commitment of the librarians to their students. The event organizer, Maria Elena Ovale, introduced me to the Tejas Star Award to bring attention to bilingual books. It was exciting to hear the librarians describe their creative strategies for motivating their students to be readers.

At The Latino Book and Family Festival in LA, I enjoyed seeing parents who wanted their children to be readers. It was also exciting to meet Myrna Wathen, a librarian at Roseville Public Library, who told me about their annual Día celebrations, events that are growing and growing. 

Pat and Myrna Wathen

November 21, I’ll be in Chicago at BookAMania. More about that soon.

An El Paso Singing Treat

My wonderful Uncle Lalo, known to others as Eduardo Delgado or Ed, celebrated his 91st birthday last week. My sister Stella and I went to El Paso, where we were all born, to celebrate with him. We received an unexpected, musical treat. I showed my uncle my new book, beautifully illustrated A Piñata in a Pine Tree: A Latino Twelve Days of Christmas. My uncle, comfortably seated in his green leather chair, opened the book slowly, admiring all the front pages. When he saw the song beginning, he began to sing the book page by page. At the end of each page, he’d raise his voice and revel in singing the refrain with great gusto, “and a piñata in a pine trrrrrrrrreeeeeeeeeeeeeeee.”

Yet another sweet memory from my special uncle. Have any musical bookjoy memories to share?

Library Grants for Family Literacy

The National Center for Family Literacy has created a national award for libraries that will support and fund libraries’ family programming. “Libraries and literacy have such a natural connection, and we designed the award to help tighten that,” says Emily Kirkpatrick, vice president of the National Center for Family Literacy (NCFL), which co-launched the grant with online book site, Better World Books. Use this link to access a form so you’ll be notified of grant criteria and receive an application when available (after October 1.)

Thanks to School Library Journal and Reading Tub’s Literacy Roundup for the news and links.