A DÃa For Children, Cultures, Literacy

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By Lauren Barack -- School Library Journal, 04/22/2010

With crafts, performances, and even Mexican fiestas, librarians and teachers across the country are kicking off the 14th annual El dia de los niños/El dia de los libros (Children’s Day/Book Day)—a celebration of children, families, reading, and multiculturalism across the country, which culminates April 30.

Author Pat Mora at the Galveston, TX, Dia event April 3.

“It’s about linking all children to books, language and cultures,” says Pat Mora, author and founder of Día, who believed 14 years ago that children should be encouraged to read within their own language and their own cultural traditions. “We want to promote pride in home languages and in home cultures.”

Take the Rosenberg Library in Galveston, TX., which held its first Día event on April 3 with 300 children and adults who ate tamales, quesadillas, and taquitos while listening to Mora read during a bilingual story time. Staff passed out chocolate Easter eggs to kids, while promoting the upcoming summer reading club to parents as well.

“It was a collaborative event with the entire staff,” says Karen Stanley, Head of Children’s Services, by email. “We all collapsed afterwards!”

Mora in 1997 partnered with REFORMA, a national group that promotes library services to Spanish-speakers, holding the first Día celebrations across Texas and the Southwest that April. The Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC) adopted the program in 2004, bringing it under the guise of the American Library Association—and extending its reach throughout the country.

Mora at the Galveston Tx Dia event April 3.

Mora especially loves that the month-long celebration provides the perfect tie-in to summer reading programs—and the collaboration between schools and public libraries to help promote student, and family, literacy.

“We want to have more families reading,” says Mora, who this year launched a virtual component called DÍAPALOOZA, where teachers, parents, librarians, and students can see how the hundreds of other communities, says Mora, are celebrating Día, and perhaps pick up some inspiration for their own.

“I can’t say enough about the people who take on this challenge to run a Día event,” she says. “I’m always amazed by the creativity of librarians and teachers.”