Granted

The Kids in Need Foundation is calling for applications for its 2013 grants program. The awards range from $100 to $500 and must be used for classroom projects. To apply for the program, certified pre-K—12 teachers should visit the Foundation’s website by September 30, 2013 and complete an application. Winning teachers must have a project that makes “creative use of common teaching aids, approaches the curriculum from an imaginative angle, or ties non-traditional concepts together for the purpose of illustrating commonalities.” From 300-600 grants are given each year. Check out the guidelines before applying, and examine the sponsor list to select the application that is most relevant to your location, grade level, or preference. Sponsors include: Office Depot Foundation, Office Depot Star Teacher, Ready Steady Go!, Jo-Ann Craft & Fabric Stores (for preK only), Fred Meyer Fund, and VIA Credit Union. The Kids in Need Foundation is a non-profit organization that gives free school supplies to disadvantaged school children and teachers from under-funded schools.

For the Love of Reading

The Comic Book Legal Defense Fund released Raising a Reader! How Comics & Graphic Novels Can Help Your Kids Love to Read, a free resource for educators and parents written by Dr. Meryl Jaffe, with an introduction by Jennifer L. Holm and art by Raina Telgemeier and Matthew Holm. The guide explains the skills that graphic novels offer kids, how to teach reading with comics, and more. Visit www.cbldf.org to download a copy for free.

“Comics are an incredible tool for helping create a genuine love of reading,” noted Holm. “With Raising A Reader!, we set out to create a resource all about what graphic novels offer kids that includes vital information about how to read comics, how to create reading dialogues with them, and how comics are important tools for 21st-century learners.

Día Programming Award

Applications for the 2013 Estela and Raúl Mora Award are now being accepted by REFORMA, the National Association to Promote Library and Information Services to Latinos and the Spanish-speaking. The award recognizes exemplary programming that celebrates El día de los niños/El día de los libros (Children’s Day, Book Day) or El día de los jóvenes! El día de los libros (Youth Day/Book Day). Día is a nationally recognized initiative that emphasizes the importance of literacy for all children from all backgrounds. Libraries, schools, colleges, museums, and other community organizations can apply for the award. The deadline is August 15, 2013.

The award was established in 2000 by author Pat Mora and her family “to honor their parents and to motivate libraries to celebrate Día.”

Awarded

Edie Parsons has won the first Karen and Philip Cushman Late Bloomer Award. The award is “for authors over the age of 50 who have not been traditionally published in the children’s literature field.” The award was established by the Cushman’s in association with the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI). Karen Cushman published her first children’s book, The Midwife’s Apprentice (a 1996 Newbery Medal winner), when she was 53. Parsons is currently looking for a publisher for Mercury Sea, a middle grade fantasy. “The story takes place in a world where alchemy works, crystal ships sail the seas, and the industrial revolution never happened,” noted Parsons in a recent interview. Parsons will receive a $500 award and free tuition to attend any SCBWI conference.

Lisa M. Lopez and her marionette theater set up for Goldilocks and the Three Bears.

“The library is the center of our school,” says Zavala Elementary School librarian Lisa M. Lopez, passionate storyteller, bilingual literacy advocate, 2013 Library Journal Mover & Shaker, and the unofficial Little Free Library ambassador to El Paso, TX.

Through Lopez’s efforts, Zavala became the first location in Texas to install a Little Free Library (LFL) book exchange box—two, in fact, both inside and outside the school, just one way that she has helped students become invested in their own literacy. In addition, Zavala devotes the entire month of April to storytelling events in honor of Día de los niños/Día de los libros (Children’s Day/Book Day) celebrations, inspiring students to go out into the community and become storytellers themselves.

“Something that I try to incorporate here at the library a lot is allow that hands-on, for them to be creative, and not just read what is available, but also be creators,” Lopez tells School Library Journal.

In this eighth of a dozen planned interviews with the youth services librarians named as Movers & Shakers this year, Lopez tells us more about her inspirations and goals for the profession, her favorite engaging K–5 books and authors, and some of the challenges facing school libraries today.

How did you know library science was the right fit for you?
My first teaching position was that of enrichment, so I did lots of fine art. That’s when I got into storytelling. I started creating my own puppets using paper bags, recyclables—and I had students do the same thing after I performed. I really enjoy fairy tales and folktales, so I would do a long thematic unit on those, and then allow students to do fractured fairy tales, allow them to be creative. I’ve always been very fortunate to work with all grade levels, which is why a school library was the perfect fit for me. You really do get to have an impact, not just on your classroom but on the entire student population.

And also during the summers when I was an enrichment teacher, I would drive around to yard sales and I would start purchasing children’s books. I started noticing that my collection was growing by the thousands, and it was really hard organizing them. So then I started researching the ways to categorize them, and that’s when I realized that a profession in library science would be great for me! One of my biggest passions is picture books; just managing my huge personal collection opened my eyes to the importance of collection development and exposing students to the variety of authors out there.

We’re always looking for recommendations for multicultural books and bilingual books. Where do you source these kinds of books for students?
Children’s Book Press is a great place to go to look for bilingual and multicultural books; that’s one  place that I like to browse to see what’s out there and what’s got star reviews and the REFORMA newsletter as well. And Pat Mora has written close to 40 or 50 children’s books, which have a lot of bilingual words, and she talks about her childhood in El Paso, and [my] kids can really relate to that. But it’s certainly tough. They are limited. We also have here Cinco Puntos Press, the local publishing company. So that’s another great go-to place that I like to browse.

What are your favorite books for children? What’s most popular at your school?
For early readers, I really like Mo Willems. All of the “Piggie and Elephant” books are just phenomenal at making students realize the power of reading, because they’re just so funny and his illustrations are simple, but they convey so much expression. Students really adore Mo Willems, so he is one of the first authors I always try to introduce with them to try to develop that pleasure of reading.

And then of course, after they start getting older, graphic novels are it. They’re really just revolutionary, the way students read [them]. So some examples would be Lunch Lady, those are very popular at our school library, and Baby Mouse. And of course the “Amelia Rules” books.

I’ve noticed that boys are quick to pick out the Marvel books and all the action heroes [but] I noticed that girls needed something more towards themselves, female protagonists. “Amelia Rules” really has excited our female population here, and they’ve started reading graphic novels as well. So it’s definitely a very popular genre here at Zavala, and it’s everywhere, not just here. And The Boxcar Children graphic novels. We have plenty of the old chapter books but they weren’t really being circulated; ever since the graphic novels came out, an explosion of excitement! So I really do recommend them.

That’s primarily how I’ve been spending my library budget these last two to three years—purchasing graphic novels that are appropriate for them.

What are you most proud of at your school?
Something that is huge here for us is Día de los niños/Día de los libros. Pat Mora, the children’s author and poet, is from El Paso and is actually a dear friend of mine. She comes once a year and she’s been very encouraging of the continuum, the storytelling events that I host for the entire month of April. So I do the folktales and fairytales—to me, they are essential, because they teach morals—and I do a play with my marionette sets and little houses. I put up a performance for every grade level. Then I have third, fourth, and fifth graders do their own plays for the lower grades, which is phenomenal. This is where I encourage their creativity. They’re not to spend any money. I provide them with a box where I receive my Scholastic books or Follett books, and they gather the construction paper, string, and start drawing their marionettes with paper. Everything is paper based.

Zavala students showcase their plays and stages made out of recyclables at Dia 2012.

It’s really exciting for little ones to observe older students’ public speaking and presentation skills! It’s truly been a blessing focusing on that side of storytelling where students are creators and presenters.

Can you tell us more about how you collaborate with classroom teachers?
When they came in to see my [first storytelling] performance, they saw how attentive students were and how excited they were. Storytelling is just one of those things that…I don’t want to say it’s a lost art, but it doesn’t happen anymore, especially the types of marionettes that I use and I also do it bilingually. But it has captivated teachers and they get excited, too. So I think that has really helped for them to help their students, give them class time to work on their little theaters and their marionettes.

Can you tell us more about Día de los niños/Día de los libros in your community?
The last Saturday of April I invite a large group of students to perform at our local [celebration], which is organized by the El Paso Public Library. It’s a huge event here in El Paso, where the community gets free books and there’s all literacy-based activities.We go to the storytelling booth and my students get to present! It’s been wonderful—the audience, and the support that we’ve gotten is quite tremendous.

Storytelling is huge for me. Huge for me. And filming the performances, and showing those in future years. That’s really powerful. It reminds [students] of the power of creativity. Anything captured on video is really neat, and then showing it again to the lower grades—it’s quite a powerful learning tool.

Zavala students perform a Sponge Bob play during El Paso’s Día celebration.

What’s it like to hear back from your students?
The first year that I did the storytelling as a librarian here at Zavala, I had a set of twins who were in fifth grade, and they put on a beautiful Hansel and Gretel play that they wrote. Right now they are finishing middle school, and every year in April they send me a message that they want to help out and do storytelling for Día de los niños/Día de los libros. So it had a huge impact on them.

Who do you collaborate the most with day to day? Does that come naturally to you?
It has to be our faculty, the teachers. Well, throughout my MLIS courses, collaboration was a huge topic. Without it, the library becomes isolated, it becomes an island. So you really do have to go out there and do some outreach yourself with the actual school community, because otherwise students will just come in to get books and they’ll be in and out.

And that’s not the purpose of a library. To me, the public library [is] a community center where people get to enjoy themselves and read whatever—a magazine, a book, a reference material. It’s making them feel welcome. It’s a place for them to relax and have fun.

Lopez poses happily with students the day they were interviewed by local news stations.

How do you feel about being a Mover & Shaker? Do you view yourself as a marketer?
More than a marketer, I feel like a promoter. If you collaborate—and you don’t do everything by yourself, if you collaborate—and you have other people develop an interest, it’s just going to flourish a lot quicker. There’s just no way that I could have done everything that I’ve done by myself, for instance, the LFL movement and Día de los niños/Día de los libros, two wonderful literacy initiatives.

The students have been the most supportive. They can’t believe that we’re close now to 50 Little Free Libraries across our borderlands. They love knowing that we were the pioneers, the first ones in the state of Texas and in El Paso to start this simple yet powerful concept of a free book exchange. So I try to keep them updated on the progress of the libraries and show them the Google map on the LFL website so that they can see. When I started this, there weren’t really that many. Now, we’re talking about thousands.

What do you think are the biggest challenges for school librarians right now?
Budgetary cuts, that’s a huge one, especially here for our school. Ultimately that’s been the main [issue] that’s impacted our school community. Our students were used to receiving free books from Scholastic every year, from Reading is Fundamental, which had been funded since the 1960s by the federal government, and it just got slashed. And this is the first year that they’re not getting any new books at all [through that program]. We would get three free books per student a year and the kids were just excited to come in and choose their own reading materials. It’s a huge sense of ownership.

We are surrounded by extremely low socioeconomic communities, so it really just took away a big part of my job and also what a library stands for. I got lucky: I applied for a grant to the El Paso Community Foundation and they [gave] me $1000 to purchase some more books. .

What is your biggest focus going forward?
For one thing, meeting the diversity of our patrons. A lot of kids now want the technology, they want the gaming, while others [want] the hands-on puppetry, storytelling, the old traditions to enjoy literacy. So it’s meeting those different needs. [And] here for our school, the standardized testing is a major challenge that we all get stressed out about, because it takes away from our authentic teaching and learning. So that is a huge issue that we’re all facing…we’re hoping it will be more of a memory in the years to come. Because it’s really taking away a lot from our students.

When/why did you start your website? Has it accomplished what you wanted?
A lot of our teachers don’t have a blog or personal website that showcases their work, and I tell them that it’s essential. It’s your professional portfolio. You’re letting others know—and not just your local community but other people that are interested in what you’re doing—and they can check it out. And so I created that as a personal library website and I like to add videos of what we’re up to.

What has been the best professional development experience you’ve ever had?
Being an active member of professional library associations has really been the biggest blessing in my career. I started in 2008 with REFORMA; they came to El Paso [for] their conference. I was lucky enough to attend and volunteer and I met the president at the time, and I got to network with some big names in the profession. It was such an eye opener to the essential nature being involved in these professional library associations and attending conferences. So I saw it as a huge step and a great networking tool. [At] ALA Chicago in 2009, I was just amazed. I came back so refreshed and empowered with what I had gathered out there, and the new tools, too, to continue improving myself.

What would you love to do in your career that you haven’t done yet?
I have a lot of people encouraging me to get a Ph.d, but at this time I’m actually expecting my first child, so it’s kind of a change for me! I’m excited, but I understand it’s a completely different journey than the professional. Because I love ALA conferences, professional development and stuff like that. So for now I’m going to start focusing a little bit on family, but I will do this!

I’ve actually considered for a long time moving on to the public sector and starting off as a children’s librarian, and doing the outreach programming. I love that! I really do. After that, I would love to be a branch manager. So those two are on my wish list, and hopefully at some point in my life I will definitely get to experience the public sector.

The immigration experience: Immigration is an important issue today not only in the news but also in the lives of many students and their families, making it a topic that’s relevant for discussion in classes across the curriculum. This spring, the Smithsonian is presenting two online education conferences—“From Where I Stand”—featuring historians, curators, and educators.

Curators L. Stephen Velasquez and Nancy Davis of the National Museum of American History will present “A Closer Look at Understanding Immigration/Migration Experiences in the United States” on April 10 at 1 pm ET. Latino program director Magdalena Mieri of the National Museum of American History and educator Ashley Naranjo of the Smithsonian Center for Education and Museum Studies will be present “Immigration/Migration Stories in the Classroom” on May 8, 4 pm ET. The session is educator-focused and will “highlight techniques for sparking classroom conversations.”

In addition, through its Smithsonian Quests program, students will have the opportunity to earn two new digital badges. Kids in kindergarten through fourth grade can earn the Proud Publisher badge by making a book that “features a person, place, and object that represents their heritage.” Middle and high school students can earn a Cultural Storyteller badge by “analyzing an object that represents their identity and heritage.”

Video analysis: Subscribers of Shmoop’s online digital curriculum service can connect with students in a new way. Shmoop has added 26 new Video Activities to their teacher’s guides (with more on the way) that are all aligned with Common Core. George Orwell’s Animals Farm, John Steinbeck’s Grapes of Wrath, William Golding’s Lord of the Flies, Hamlet’s Romeo and Juliet, Lois Lowry’s The Giver, Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter, and Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mocking Bird are just some of the titles that now have an added video feature with analysis and more.

Additionally, Shmoop offers a free online library of more than 150 videos covering literature, math, and history called Shmoopsterpiece Theater. Video reading guides are offered for classics like Lord of the Flies and Romeo and Juliet, and more contemporary fiction, like The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins.

Research Competition

Serving the Latino population: Have you conducted research that focuses on the library and/or informational needs of the Latino population in your community and how those needs are being met? REFORMA, the National Association to Promote Library and Information Services to Latinos and the Spanish-speaking, and the American Library Association’s Library Research Round Table, is asking librarians, information professionals, master’s students, doctoral students, researchers, and others to submit their latest research by April 15 for a chance to make a 15-minute presentation at the “Investigaciones par servirles/Research at your service” forum at the American Library Association’s (ALA) Annual Conference in Chicago.

REFORMA will present the three winners with a $250 honorarium. The proposal should be sent via email and should include a cover page with the author’s name, title of the paper, contact information, and email address. The second page should include the paper’s title and a 500-word abstract summarizing the proposed presentation (must be based on original research). Send your submission to Sandra Rios Balderrama, REFORMA Office Manager.

Industry News

Manga: Julie Kagawa’s The Iron King (Harlequin Teen, 2010), a popular young adult novel, is going to be transformed into a manga book. She’s partnering with Bluewater Productions using Indiegogo to crowdsource $10,000 to hire top talent to produce it. The Iron King is one title in her popular “Iron Fey” quartet.  Fans can support the project by making contributions ranging from $10 to $2,500. All donations must be received by April 22. Prizes to contributors include a t-shirt, a signed bookplate, an original sketch by Kagawa, a handmade sculpture of one of the book’s characters, and more. “We are really excited to be working with Julie and Indiegogo to transform her novels into a manga series, like they did with ‘Twilight’. The Iron King is a great novel that was made to be experienced visually,” noted publisher Darren G. Davis. “Not only are these comic books fun, but they can be used as a tool for reluctant readers.”

Awarded

Book awards: The finalists in the Children’s Choice Book Award program, sponsored by the Children’s Book Council and Every Child a Reader have been announced. It’s the only national book awards program that gives children and teens the chance to vote for their favorites from the group of finalists. Librarians and teachers are encouraged to spread the word with the online digital toolkit and have their students participate by voting for Book, Author, and Illustrator of the Year. Kids can vote individually, or you can make it a class project. Online voting is open through May 3. Winners will be announced at the 6th Annual Children’s Choice Book Awards gala on May 13 at the Liberty Theatre in New York City.

The finalists in all categories are:

K–Grade 2 Book of the Year: Big Mean Mike by Michelle Knudsen, illustrated by Scott Magoon (Candlewick); The Duckling Gets a Cookie!? by Mo Willems (Hyperion/Disney); I’ll Save You Bobo! by Eileen Rosenthal, illustrated by Marc Rosenthal (S & S/Atheneum); Pete the Cat and His Four Groovy Buttons created and illustrated by James Dean, story by Eric Litwin (HarperCollins); Nighttime Ninja by Barbara DaCosta, illustrated by Ed Young (Little, Brown).

Grade 3–4 Book of the Year: Bad Kitty for President by Nick Bruel (Macmillan/Roaring Brook); Get the Scoop on Animal Poop! by Dawn Cusick (Charlesbridge/Imagine); Homer by Shelley Rotner, illustrated by Diane deGroat (Scholastic); Just Joking by National Geographic Kids (National Geographic); Pluto Visits Earth! by Steve Metzger, illustrated by Jared Lee (Scholastic).

Grade 5–6 Book of the Year: Dork Diaries 4: Tales from a Not-So-Graceful Ice Princess by Rachel Renée Russell (S & S/Aladdin); Liar & Spy by Rebecca Stead (Random/Wendy Lamb Bks.); Pickle: The (Formerly) Anonymous Prank Club of Fountain Point Middle School by Kim Baker, illustrated by Tim Probert (Macmillan/Roaring Brook); Rebel McKenzie by Candice Ransom (Hyperion/Disney); Stickman Odyssey, Book 2: The Wrath of Zozimos by Christopher Ford (Philomel).

Teen Book of the Year: Cinder: (The Lunar Chronicles, Bk. 1  by Marissa Meyer (Macmillan/Feiwel & Friends); City of Lost Souls (Mortal Instruments) by Cassandra Clare (S & S/Margaret K. McElderry Bks.); The Fault in Our Stars by John Green (Dutton); Insurgent by Veronica Roth (HarperCollins/Katherine Tegen Bks.); Rapture: A Fallen Novel by Lauren Kate (Delacorte).

Author of the Year: John Green for The Fault in Our Stars (Dutton); Jeff Kinney for Diary of a Wimpy Kid 7: The Third Wheel

(Abrams/Amulet); R. J. Palacio for Wonder (Knopf); Rick Riordan for The Mark of Athena: Heroes of Olympus, Book 3 (Hyperion/Disney); Veronica Roth for Insurgent (HarperCollins/Katherine Tegen Bks.).

Illustrator of the Year: James Dean for Pete the Cat and His Four Groovy Buttons (HarperCollins); Anna Dewdney for Llama Llama Time to Share (Viking); Ian Falconer for Olivia and the Fairy Princesses (S & S/Atheneum); Robin Preiss Glasser for Fancy Nancy and the Mermaid Ballet (HarperCollins); and Mo Willems for The Duckling Gets a Cookie!?(Hyperion/Disney).

As dwindling funds and looming budget cuts reach many of the nation’s public libraries, 12 institutions received $5,000 mini-grants to support programming in their diverse communities. After a time-intensive process, the Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC) recently gifted these Día Family Book Club Program awards to expand El día de los niños/El día de los libros (Día) into an ongoing yearlong celebration. The winning libraries give SLJ some insights into how they garnered the much-needed funds.

Founded in 1997 by children’s author Pat Mora—with the help from the National Association to Promote Library and Information Services to Latinos and the Spanish-Speaking (REFORMA)—Día (Children’s Day/Book Day), “emphasizes the importance of literacy for children of all linguistic and cultural backgrounds” and culminates yearly on April 30. The winning libraries ranged widely in diversity of population, grant application-savvy, and level of experience in celebrating Día.

The grant announcement came right on time for Linda Atkinson of Joliet Public Library, IL. The early childhood literacy coordinator had been looking for a way to expand programming for her growing Latino community, and was already planning the library’s first official Día celebration. “The 2010 Census showed us that Spanish-speakers make up a third of our city’s population,” she tells School Library Journal. “We had already started a bilingual storytime to address that change. For us, Día is every day.”

Joliet will be using its grant funds to host a six-week bilingual family book club which will focus on early literacy skills, with guest appearances by Spanish storyteller Marina Morino, folk dancers, and Paleta the ice cream man, Atkinson says.

Lucía Gonzalez is not a stranger to the Día party. The library director at North Miami Public Library, FL, has celebrated the book fiesta in every institution she has been employed. She piloted a similar book club program when she began as director two years ago. Because of her past experience, the mini-grant was a perfect fit for what she had already implemented at the library, she tells SLJ.

A predominantly Haitian American community, North Miami’s first book club session will kick off with visits by a Haitian American author to the participating 12 elementary schools in the area, and then continue with book club meetings every two weeks. “There will be a facilitator and a translator, and a bilingual book discussion led by local storyteller Lilian Nerette Louise,” says Gonzalez. “Parents will have the experience of reading books together with their children. They are mostly working parents and it’s very hard to get them to the library. We’re also offering them a nice sit-down dinner.”

The mini-grants are part of the Everyone Reads @ Your Library grant awarded to ALSC from the Dollar General Literacy Foundation, and applicants had be located within 20 miles of a Dollar General Store, distribution center, or corporate office.

In fact, the East Branch Library in Irving, Texas is housed in the same building as the city’s local Dollar General, and Senior Librarian Corine Barberena sees the grant as an opportunity to recharge its Día program, which hadn’t been organized in the past few years. Her “Books Matter at Your Library” program will be mostly after school, and will be incorporating technology as part of the bilingual storytime portion. Barbarena anticipates using some of the grant funds to purchase an Elmo Digital Visual presenter and the online picture books website, Tumblebooks, to project the print text in order to facilitate English and Spanish language learning, she tells SLJ. However, she plans to go the traditional route for the program launch on April 29: the Artes de la Rosa group from Fort Worth will be performing Pinocchia, a bilingual version of Pinocchio.

Barberena says the service-oriented Irving community has already responded to the impending program with interest. “We have a long list of partners, and hope to work with them to host the bilingual book club sessions in various venues, including the parks recreation center and many of the schools,” she notes. “The library is housed in the county Human Services building, so all of the local social service agencies will be advertising and promoting for us.”

Florida’s Orlando Public Library youth programs assistant Jackie Padilla and youth outreach coordinator Natalie Houston also found that having strong relationships and partnerships with local businesses and talent was a big plus in applying for this award. Community groups, Houston says, can “either help spread the news about programs, or donate their time and services. We’ve used a local deejay for entertainment, a Cuban bakery for refreshments, etc. But these relationships have to be built over time.”

Houston, who wrote the grant for this award, says another boon in their favor was that they had already done a lot of the research needed for the application for previous grants. Most of the legwork had been completed before the deadline, which helped them reach the quick turnaround date. Padilla stresses the need to understand and continually evaluate programs and community. This will be Orlando’s seventh Día program, and the library will extend the celebration into the whole year until next April with bilingual storytimes and its “Cuentame un cuento /Tell Me a Story Book Club.” Some of the picture books featured will include Susan Middleton Elya’s Say Hello to Spanish as an introduction to vocabulary, and a perennial favorite, a Fisher Price CD with Spanish cultural songs as the final giveaway.

Most of the winning libraries tell SLJ that they will use the grant to aid in longstanding children’s services goals.

Youth services librarian Lani Revell, at the City of Palmdale Library, CA, hopes to encourage an intergenerational connection among with the four programs that the min-grant will be funding in her library. Some of the books discussed will include Tony Johnston’s My Abuelita and Grace Lin’s Where the Mountain Meets the Moon. “These stories emphasize storytelling and sharing memories with the whole family,” she says.

Tina Viglucci, Hispanic services manager at Gail Borden Public Library, Elgin, IL, will integrate her book club within Gail Borden’s STEM-focused programming. As a precursor to the library’s summer reading activities, its sessions will introduce children to community gardening during its “Forest Fiesta,” and even focus on geology when it becomes a stop on the Super Croc—the largest crocodile fossil unearthed—tour, hosted by Project Exploration. The “Libros Books Family Fiestas” program will target the 8–11 age group. “We saw that attendance at the library usually started to drop off around third to sixth grade. We hope that these programs will help plant the seeds of literacy,” says Viglucci.

Tracee Yawger, head of children’s services for Montgomery County’s Norristown Public Library, PA, began a Día celebration with her local elementary school when the 2010 Census showed a dramatic 196 percent increase of the town’s Hispanic population. Yawger credits school principal Jeanette Fernandez for fostering a climate of inclusion for Hispanic parents. “Because of our partnership with the school, we were able to have a library card drive to make it easy for Latino parents to get kids cards without being intimidated, since they’ve already provided personal information to the school,” she tells SLJ. “Now, 86 percent of the student body has cards.” Working with volunteers from Bryn Mawr College’s “Mujeres” group and the school district’s parent association has also proved to be a huge resource, she says.

Día events are not just for the Latino population. Yawger plans to have all storytimes in English, Spanish, and American Sign Language (ASL), “to give the program a more inclusive feel because we can all benefit from this.”

Herb Landau, library director of the Lancaster Public Library, PA, wants to emphasize the ways the different cultural groups of his community are the same. “Our patrons come from backgrounds as varied as Latino, Amish, Nepali, and Egyptian,” he says. “Our library’s citizenship class has at least 28 nationalities represented. Food is a common denominator, and so we decided to modify our popular adult multicultural cooking program for families and children: Cocina y Culturas Familiares/Cultures and Cooking for Families.”

Coordinated by children and teen services manager Jessica Pérez Blasko, Lancaster’s program will include three family book club readings of a multilingual children’s book which will focus on a type of universal food such as flatbreads: tortilla (Mexican), roti and naan (Indian), pancakes (Kenyan), matzo (Jewish),  and pita (Greek). For grant applications, it’s important that applicants respond to needs of the community after thorough assessment, Landau says, adding, “We found that events food in our community generally draws in people. A local joke is that eating is a hobby here. Think out of the box and be imaginative.”

Only 12 libraries received the mini-grants but that shouldn’t stop libraries from celebrating the special day. Día promotes reading and appreciation of different cultures.

Vilma Martinez of Springdale Public Library, AK, who will be hosting a multicultural-themed book club called MOSAIC, suggests displaying and reading multicultural books during storytime. “Make your regular storytime fun and interactive. Decorate with balloons and have refreshments. Even hang up a piñata. It doesn’t have to be too expensive,” she says.

Elizabeth Marcus, children’s librarian at Finkelstein Memorial Library, Spring Valley, NY, encourages those who want to make their own fiesta to use already established partnerships to make your celebration special. “We’re libraries. We have and are built-in resources.”

Celebrated author Benjamin Alire Sáenz swept the Youth Media Awards on Monday with Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe (S & S, 2012). The young adult novel about two Mexican-American teen boys whose friendship deepens into romance in 1987 El Paso, Texas, won the Pura Belpré Author Medal, the Stonewall Medal, and a Michael L. Printz Honor. Yet Saénz is just one of the many talented writers of children’s literature with Latino characters and themes. Below is a compilation of tools for locating books and program ideas for not only Spanish-speaking patrons, but for all of those interested in reading more diverse titles. Please list any resources we might have missed in the comments section below.

Book Award Lists

The Pura Belpré Awards are presented to “a Latino/Latina writer and illustrator whose work best portrays, affirms, and celebrates the Latino cultural experience in an outstanding work of literature for children and youth.”

The Tomás Rivera Book Award, established in 1985 by the Texas State University College of Education, honors authors and illustrators who create literature that best depicts the Mexican-American experience.

The Américas Awards Book Award for Children’s and Young Adult Literature recognizes works of fiction, poetry, folklore, or non-fiction published in the previous year in English or Spanish in the United States that “authentically and engagingly portray Latin America, the Caribbean, or Latinos in the U.S.”

Websites

REFORMA is the American Library Association’s affiliate association dedicated to promoting library and information services to Latinos and the Spanish-speaking community.

Día de los niños/Día de los libros (Children’s Day/Book Day) is usually celebrated on April 30. Now approaching its 17^th year, it emphasizes the importance of reading and literacy for children of all backgrounds. The website contains reading guides (updated yearly) and resources for creating a “Día” program in your library.

SLJ’s “Libro por Libro” column is written by Tim Wadham, the director of the City of Puyallup Public Library in Washington State, and longtime advocate for awareness of Latino-themed kid lit.

¡Imagínense Libros! Founded by Dr. Jamie C. Naidoo, past chair of the Pura Belpré award, is designed to help librarians, educators, and parents choose high-quality books authentically representing Latino cultures.

¡Colorín Colorado! is a bilingual site for families and educators of English language learners.

CBC Diversity is a Children’s Book Council committee dedicated to “increasing the diversity of voices and experiences contributing to children’s and young adult literature.”

Mamiverse Books is the book division of the website for “Empowering Latina Moms and Families.” It publishes online reviews, author interviews, and timely articles on kid’s literature.

The Latin Baby Book Club was created for families looking for bilingual children’s literature that celebrates Latino culture.

La Bloga is written by Latino(a) authors, novelists, essayists and poets. It concentrates primarily on Hispanic literature of all kinds, and many times features children’s authors.

Publishers That Specialize in Latino-themed Kid Lit

North America:

Groundwood Books is a Canadian publisher of Canadian and American children’s fiction for all ages. Its Tigrillo imprint focuses on Latin American authors.

Lectorum, formerly an imprint of Scholastic, is an online book distributor that has launched a new Spanish-language website for consumers, offering thousands of adult and children’s Spanish-language titles.

Lee & Low Books is an independent children’s book publisher focusing on diversity. Imprints include Bebop Books (for the classroom), Arcoíris (Spanish-language), Children’s Book Press (bilingual), and Tu Books (fantasy, sci-fi, & mystery).

Piñata Books is the children’s imprint of Arte Público Press, the nation’s largest publisher of contemporary literature by U.S. Hispanics.

Cinco Puntos Press is a small, independent publishing company rooted in El Paso, Texas.

Latin America/Spain:

Alfaguara Infantil (Spain) publishes Latin American authors and translations of popular U.S. titles.

Ediciones Ekaré (Venezuela) offers bilingual and Spanish-language titles.

Editorial de la Universidad de Puerto Rico publishes primarily Puerto Rican authors.

Editorial Hotel Papel (Spain) has the Libros para crecer en igualdad series, among others.

Fondo de Cultura Económica (México) produces books for young readers by authors/illustrators from around the world.

Grupo Edebé (Spain) offers books for children and teens in Spanish.

Popular and Award-winning Latino Author/Illustrators
Alma Flor Ada (Dancing Home; Love, Amalia)
Malin Alegría (Estrella’s Quinceañera, “Bordertown” series)

Julia Alvarez (Before We Were Free; Return to Sender; “Tia Lola” series)

Rudolfo Anaya (Bless Me, Ultima)

Jorge Argueta (“Cooking Poem” series)
Monica Brown (Marisol McDonald Doesn’t Match; Waiting for the Biblioburro)

Viola Canales (The Tequila Worm)

Veronica Chambers (“Marisol & Magdalena” series; Celia Cruz, Queen of Salsa)

Judith Ortiz Cofer (The Meaning of Consuelo; Call Me, Maria)
Raul Cólon (Tómas and the Library Lady; My Name is Gabito)

David Díaz (Martín de Porres; Smoky Night)

Margarita Engle (The Surrender Tree; The Poet Slave of Cuba)

Caridad Ferrer (When Stars Go Blue; Adíos to My Old Life)

Oscar Hijuelos (Dark Dudes)

Guadalupe Garcia McCall (Under the Mesquite; Summer of the Mariposas)

Sonia Manzano (The Revolution of Evelyn Serrano)

Nicholasa Mohr (Nilda; El Bronx Remembered)
Pat Mora (“Día del libro” founder; Doña Flor)

Yuyi Morales (Little Night; Los Gatos Black on Halloween)

Pam Muñoz Ryan (Esperanza Rising; The Dreamer)

Nancy Osa (Cuba 15)

Gary Soto (“Chato” picture book series; Baseball in April)

Matt de la Peña (Ball Don’t Lie; Mexican Whiteboy)

Ashley Hope Perez (What Can’t Wait; The Knife and the Butterfly)

Benjamin Alire Sáenz (Aristotle & Dante; Sammy and Juliana in Hollywood)
René Saldaña Jr. (The Jumping Tree; “Mickey Rangel” mysteries)

Eric Velasquez (Grandma’s Gift, The Skirt)

Professional Development

Serving Latino Communities: A How-to-do-it Manual for Librarians. Carmila Alire & Jacqueline Ayala. 2^nd ed. Neal Schuman.

Serving Latino Teens. Salvador Avila. (Libraries Unlimited).

El Día de Los Niños/El Día de Los Libros: Building Culture of Literacy in Your Community Through Día. Jeanette Larson. ALA.

Celebrating Cuentos: Promoting Latino Children’s Literature and Literacy in Classrooms and Libraries. Jaime Naidoo, ed. Libraries Unlimited.

Early Literacy Programming en Español: Mother Goose on the Loose Programs for Bilingual Learners. Betsy Diamant-Cohen. Neal Schuman.

National Latinos Children’s Literature Conference

Spanish-language titles by Latin American publishers.
Photo by Sujei Lugo

Librarians who serve children in predominantly Latino communities were shocked this past December to read a New York Times article claiming that there is a dearth of Latino characters in books written for young readers—a notion that is at odds with their own experiences. In fact, they tell School Library Journal, there is actually a wealth of resources currently available to these kids, and librarians have the power (and the responsibility) to make those meaningful connections.

“When I first started as a librarian 27 years ago, there was very little out there,” admits Tim Wadham, director of the City of Puyallup Public Library, WA, and its Spanish-language collection as well as author of SLJ’s bi-monthly Libro por libro column of K–12 books and programming centering on the Latino experience. “There were some books available from Spain, but nothing that spoke directly to the kids that I was working with. There weren’t that many Latinos writing at that time.”

However, there has finally been a sea change for this population of readers, Wadham argues. “Now, there’s an explosion of very talented authors, writing in English, Spanish, and bilingually,” he tells SLJ.

Lucia Gonzalez, Pura Belpré Honoree for her bilingual The Bossy Gallito (Scholastic, 1994), agrees. “Quality children’s books have been published for decades, especially since the ‘90s boom,” she says.

Raising the Profile
The problem, Gonzalez notes, is a lack of visibility. These award-winning titles “unfortunately…just don’t get into the mainstream market. Instead of being displayed with the ‘regular’ books, they’re set apart,” she says. “Until we make our books an integral part of children’s literature, they are not going to be noticed. We have to make them visible.”

Pura Belpré Honor book by Lucia Gonzalez

Gonzalez, who is also current chair of ALA affiliate REFORMA’s Children’s Roundtable, says she is disappointed in this continued misrepresentation of Hispanic-focused kid lit in mainstream media, a situation that REFORMA is still working to resolve. Since 1971, the group has sought to bring attention to books written by or about Latinos and, in 1996, created the annual Pura Belpré Award, co-sponsored with ALSC, to single out Latino(a) writers and illustrators who affirm and celebrate the Latino cultural experience in outstanding works for youth.

Oralia Garza de Cortes, co-founder of the Award and past president of REFORMA, recalls that one of the principal motivations for establishing the Pura Belpré was because of the lack of literature for her children and patrons that she experienced as a librarian in the late 1980s.

“Ironically, fast forward 30 years…we have the award and better books, but no one knows about them,” she tells SLJ. “That’s why we created the Celebracion event at ALA Annual, where the winning titles are presented—in order to acculturate, or conscientizar other librarians.”

And as the United States population continues to grow more diverse—with Latinos being the most represented minority at 16%, according to the 2010 census—librarians continue to be instrumental in meeting the needs of the communities they serve. Many develop and create their collections according to their changing neighborhoods.

“How wise are librarians that they want to see all groups represented in their collections? They go the extra mile and work with the small presses,” REFORMA past president Loida Garcia-Febo tells SLJ.

Each Community’s Needs
Librarians serving predominantly Latino communities know how important it is for kids to have access to books about their culture, written and/or illustrated by those that share similar ethnic backgrounds.

“Latino authors serve as roles models to Latino aspiring authors,” notes Sujei Lugo, a former media specialist at an elementary school at the University of Puerto Rico who is currently pursuing her PhD in Library Science at Simmons College. While serving her young students, she purchased many supplemental titles in Spanish and English, plus bilingual editions, from Latin American publishers. For many kids, these books offer an alternative history not usually taught in schools, or often relegated to specific holidays or Heritage months, she says.

“Kids have to see themselves as part of the American story,” says Andrew Jackson, director of the Langston Hughes branch of Queens Library.

Yet Jackson also believes it’s even more important for children who have never seen a person of color to have access to these kinds of books. “All children have to expand their worldview, especially those kids who’ve only ever seen negative and/or inaccurate portrayals of Latinos or African Americans on television or in the media,” he explains. “[These books] can tear down stereotypes.”

Adds Lugo, “These books speak about diversity, acceptance—important messages for all kids.”

Wadham is also concerned that books with Latino themes or characters be made more accessible to all kids, and not unfairly pigeon-holed or ghettoized. “I don’t think…a reader should be limited to reading books in [one’s] own culture,” he says. “Kids should be able to read everything; it doesn’t matter where that kid is from or what culture they belong to. It’s good literature, regardless of cultural content.”

Elizabeth Burns, NJ youth services librarian and SLJ blogger, agrees. “We as industry leaders should point to and promote these titles…Our role is to connect the right book to the right reader,” she says. “If a child is looking for a family-themed book, why can’t we offer Julia Alvarez’s How Tia Lola Comes to (Stay) Visit (Knopf, 2001)? These titles are for everyone.”

And, notes REFORMA president Denice Adkins, “Most of our children’s books are about universal themes of childhood—love, fear, growing up. These are topics all children can relate to.”

Expanding the Market
Beyond raising visibility for these wonderful books, many are working to expand the market even further for these diverse voices—and librarians are leading the charge, even at the publishing level.

Garcia-Febo, for example, actively encourages presses large and small to produce stories about Hispanics that portray “the true Latino experience,” in every skin color, economic status, and tradition. “And, from personal experience,” she tells SLJ, “I can say that publishers actually listen.”

She also urges Latino professionals who are already in the publishing industry to continue to promote and foster Latino talent, and cites Marcela Landres as a great mentor to burgeoning authors.

Despite the large selection now available to today’s kids, there has actually been a slight decline in the number of children’s books being published for Latinos recently, according to the University of Wisconsin’s Cooperative Children’s Book center—a distressing report, says Adkins.

That means children’s book publishers should be actively looking to cultivate even more Latino authors and illustrators to create new works, Gonzales tells SLJ.

Notably, librarians wield great influence when dialoging with publishers due to their immense buying power, blogger Burns tells SLJ. “When we talk to publishers at conferences or via social media, it should be a two-way street,” she says. “We have to let them know that these books are popular with our students. ‘If you publish them, we will buy.’”

And within ALA, librarians of any background should strive to become active in the many ethnic library associations, such as Asian Pacific American, American Indian, and the Black Caucus, Garcia-Febo says. “This is a complex issue and we must continue to bring it to the table, not only among ourselves, but also everyone in our community: nonprofit organizations, celebrities, and government agencies,” she says, adding that the more people involved in the cause, the more successful it could be.

Broadening Horizons
For those librarians who want to learn more about how to better serve the Latino community, there are many additional resources available.

Jaime Naidoo, past chair of the Pura Belpré award and organizer of the biennial National Latino Children’s Literature Conference, encourages all library science graduate students to take classes that focus on working with underserved communities and multi-cultural groups. He also urges experienced librarians to continue their professional development in much-needed areas of the study—like this one. The conference, he notes, is a great place to start.

Meanwhile, Lugo praises several Latin American publishers that already produce books about Hispanic children in everyday situations, instead of the cultural emphasis that is prevalent in many books and series currently in print. Venezuela’s Ediciones Ekaré offers bilingual and Spanish-language editions; Editorial de la Universidad de Puerto Rico publishes primarily Puerto Rican authors; and Spain’s Editorial Hotel Papel offers the Libros para crecer en igualdad series, which includes titles that encourage children ages 3–8 to break away from stereotypes and racism.

Librarians’ mission to create lifelong readers and learners has not changed, and reluctant readers, Latino or not, often need a connection to the story to be drawn in. Naidoo describes an unforgettable story-time event with award-winning Latina author/illustrator Yuyi Morales. “A mom came up to me after a Día program in a public library,” he says. “Her daughter never pays attention during story hour, but was transfixed because the author looked just like her. She had her light bulb moment.”

These kinds of eye-opening experiences illustrate the deep and ongoing need for books with Latino characters, a need that has has been articulated for decades by youth librarians, affirms Wadham.

Fortunately, “it has finally become part of a national conversation, which is a good thing, because these are good books,” he says. “We’ll soon see the day that a novel by a Latino will win the Newbery Medal.”