Photo credit: Antwerpen R

April 30th marks the celebration of Día del Niño/Día del Libro, an annual celebration of children, families and reading held at libraries nationwide.  Here at SpanglishBaby, we’re wrapping up a week-long exploration into the world of bilingual homeschooling and the families who are living it.  We’ve emphasized this week that one of the biggest hurdles for bilingual homeschoolers is the lack of resources and curriculums available to them.  A library with a decent collection of Spanish material can be a treasure for the homeschooling family.

To celebrate Día, libraries and bilingual homeschooling we decided to focus on one librarian who has dedicated her career to making libraries a welcoming place to people of all backgrounds and, especially, for Spanish-speaking families and the bilingual community.  Katie Cunningham, raised in a small town in the Appalachian foothills of Southeastern Ohio, began studying Spanish in college and admits not really enjoying it at first. After learning Spanish while studying and traveling abroad, she found her niche in libraries.

By being able to speak Spanish, she was immediately struck by the fact that Latinos—a huge and growing community of diverse people—are being under-served by many libraries.  Katie believes that her experiences abroad made her especially sensitive to the experiences of the new immigrants she was encountering at the library.  She realized she wanted to work to make the library a place that felt welcoming.

After finding her blog, Es Divertido Hablar Dos Idiomas,  and seeing that she’s developed a presentation to bring Bilingual Storytime into libraries, I contacted her wanting to share her story and applaud her work for our bilingual kids.

Katie Cunningham

Katie: I am the Children’s Librarian at the Village Branch of the Lexington Public Library in Lexington, KY.  The Village Branch is a very special and unique place to work because all of our staff are bilingual (English/Spanish).  We serve a diverse neighborhood, and the people who walk through our doors know they will be able to find friendly, helpful service inside from all of our staff.  As the Children’s Librarian, I get to do the fun work!  My greatest passion is working with families of young children and sharing with parents ways that they (as their child’s first and most important teacher) can use books and other resources to help their children learn the early skills that they need in order to be successful when the time comes to learn to read.  One of the ways I do this is through our weekly Bilingual Family Storytime, in which we share stories, songs and activities in both English and Spanish, all intentionally selected to celebrate bilingualism and build early literacy skills.

SB:  Today is the last day of the month-long celebration of Día del Niño/Día del Libro.  How did your library celebrate it and why do you think it’s important to do so?

Katie: Our celebration will be on Saturday, May 1 in order to be more convenient for families to attend.  We are hosting a celebration of reading, culture and information throughout the day.  We will be having several programs and performances for children of various ages, including a payaso, bilingual storytelling and African drumming.  Children will be able to make cultural and literacy based crafts, such as bookmarks and papel picado.  Something special and new that we are doing this year is bringing in information for parents as well by hosting a Community Information Fair.  Several agencies serving families in our neighborhood  are bringing activities or giveaways for children, as well as bilingual information about their services for the families.  We will have high school and college volunteers available to translate for any agencies unable to bring bilingual staff.  And of course, possibly the most exciting piece of all, every child who attends our event will get to choose his or her very own, brand new book to keep.

Día is important to celebrate for so many reasons.  Most importantly, it is an opportunity to celebrate the joy of reading in all languages! It is a chance to welcome large groups of families into their library to socialize and connect around themes of literacy of books.  It also brings diverse groups of people together.  At our event this year, high school volunteers will be serving as role models by reading with young children, agencies serving the same community will be together in one place, library staff across different locations are coming to be a part of our event, working with a community they may not ordinarily have the opportunity to serve.  Only an event as special and important as Dia can accomplish so much in one day.

SB:  We are also celebrating you for the work you do to promote bilingualism with your Bilingual Storytimes and through your effort to teach other librarians to incorporate it. Why did you start this?  Why is it important?

Katie: I really kind of fell into my career by accident, and I am so grateful for all the things that have led me to this place because I cannot imagine doing anything else.  When I first began working in libraries, it became immediately obvious that there is a tremendous need for bilingual staff and services, yet libraries (like other organizations) struggle to hire and retain bilingual staff.  I learned how to do early literacy-based storytimes, and had the opportunity to incorporate Spanish and develop a Bilingual Storytime program.  The results were incredible!  Children’s faces would light up hearing and sharing in the blend of English and Spanish.  One of my favorite memories is sharing Let’s Eat / A comer by Pat Mora and hearing a boy call out, “we eat frijoles at my house!” Bilingual storytime is a wonderful way to celebrate diversity, culture and language, and I believe all of those things are important for libraries to embrace.  We must reflect the communities we serve.

However, in discussing my work, I would be remiss if I did not acknowledge the work of so many others who have come before me.  I am extremely fortunate to be working in a completely bilingual library at a time when publishers are finally making available high-quality bilingual books for children.  None of this could have come to be without the passion, vision and perseverance of others.  A great many librarians, authors and advocates have done tremendous work to make it possible to celebrate bilingualism and multiculturalism in our libraries today.

SB:  We find that libraries are treasure troves for parents raising bilinguals, but even a more special resource for those who are homeschooling their children bilingually.  How can homeschoolers take full advantage of the library and its bilingual programs?

Katie: Talk with your librarian!  One of the reasons why I love this field is that we are a profession of people who believe in sharing!  If there is something you need but cannot find, just ask!  Most libraries participate in inter-library loan or consortium projects, which means that we can find and get for you nearly any book you want, even if we don’t own it.  Or, if you suggest us a title, we may even be able to add it to our collection!  Also, in this day and age, libraries are not just about books.  Librarians are seekers of information in all its forms.  Need an article, a website, or a database?  We’ll find it for you!  And if we can’t, we will put you in touch with someone who can.

SB:  What tips can you give parents who don’t have these special bilingual programs in their local libraries to get them started?

Katie: Again, talk with your librarian.  Keep in mind, that it is entirely possible that your library has wanted to begin a bilingual program of some sort, but has felt unable to do so because they do not have bilingual staff.  This is a tough issue for libraries.  So, if you are interested in having bilingual programs, consider sharing your skills and ideas as a volunteer.  Many libraries across the country utilize community volunteers to offer bilingual programs they do not have staff resources to provide.  Examples include:

• The Kenton County Public Library in northern Kentucky which has partnered with community volunteers to offer bilingual cultural celebrations for years.

• Betsy Diamant-Cohen out of Baltimore has developed an early literacy based lapsit program for babies that is available to do bilingually, called “Mother Goose on the Loose en Espanol.”  By partnering with Spanish speaking community volunteers, Children’s Librarians who do not speak Spanish can offer this program.

• The Seattle Public Library also partners with community volunteers whom they train to offer storytime programs in many world languages.

Growing up, I definitely remember celebrating El Día del Niño. I don’t particularly remember the date of this celebration, but that’s probably because it takes place on a different date in each of the Latin American countries I lived in as a child – Perú, México and Argentina. I do remember, however; that it was “our” day and everything revolved around us, just like when everything revolves around mami on Mother’s or papi on Father’s Day.

I hadn’t really paid too much attention to celebrating this day here in the States, but thanks to all the research associated with putting together this blog and the fact that Vanessa is now old enough to enjoy this type of celebration, I was thrilled when I found out about El Día de los Niños/El Día de los Libros – which turns 13 years old today and is the brainchild of award-winning bilingual children’s author, Pat Mora – not only because it celebrates a los niños, but also one of my favorite things in the whole world: LIBROS!

In Mora’s words,  she created Día (as this celebration is known) in an effort to “link all children to books, languages and cultures.” This is how Mora, a native from El Paso, Texas, describes how the idea was born: “As a mom, I knew that children often ask, ‘Why do we have Mother’s Day and Father’s Day and not Children’s Day?’ As a reader, I wanted (and want) to foster ‘bookjoy.’ Ah-ha, I thought. What if we link a celebration of children with literacy, an issue central to the well-being of children.”

Let’s Celebrate!

Today, April 30th, is the culmination of a month long celebration of children and books sponsored mostly by public and school libraries, museums, community centers and bookstores around the country. I know that in Colorado, where I live, there have been a series of events throughout the state and that more than 400 libraries nationwide have posted their celebrations at Día’s official website. But even if you can’t find any events near you, the main idea behind Día is that we all encourage our children to read and our libraries to reflect this country’s diversity.

Pat Mora - Photo by Cheron Bayna

“When the idea for Día came to me from above in the spring of 1996, I had been writing first for adults and then for children, and I noticed that books by Latinos and about Latinos were not being published and supported as they should be given our demographics,” Mora said via email from her home in Santa Fe, New Mexico, right before she left to participate in Día celebrations across the United States. “One in four children under five today in the U.S. is Latino, yet only 2% of the children’s books published are by or about Latinos.”

Mora, who was born and raised in El Paso, Texas, has written more than 25 books of poetry, fiction, and nonfiction for adults and children – many of them bilingual.

So what else can we do to help change this? The simplest answer: READ, READ AND READ. I love the idea that Ana came up with to start a tradition to buy Camila a new Spanish-language book every year on this date, El Día de los Niños/El Día de los Libros. So I copied her idea and went and got none other than Pat Mora’s beautifully illustrated Book Fiesta! – her latest bilingual children’s book.

When I read the title to Vanessa, she got really excited and asked: “una fieta, ¿pa mi?” And I told her that indeed, it was a party for her because it was her day, El Día de los Niños! Both my daughter and I were enthralled by the intense colors that jump off the pages to convey a simple message: Reading is fun!

Vanessa’s favorite page, by far, is the one with the big picture of the moon because she has to flip the book on its side to be able to read what it says:

Y en nuestras camitas                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      le leemos a la luna,

All About Books…

Book Fiesta is actually an expansion of the song Mora came up with a few years ago to celebrate Día. You can read the lyrics here. Another one of the great things about this book is that it includes a list of ideas for celebrating El Día de los Niños/El Día de los Libros, including:

Pat Mora @ 2008 U.S. Senate's Día Celebration

Host a Book Fiesta with food, music and games – but make sure books are at the center of your celebration!

• give away books as party favors or gifts
  
• select one book as the party theme and decorate accordingly
  
• help children dress up as their favorite books or characters
• include storytellers and puppet shows whenever possible
• make your own books and/or bookmarks

“I encourage parents to read to their children from the time they are little and to make that time a special time,” explains Mora. “It’s also important that children see us reading and that we make visits to the library and book stores pleasant events.”

I know for a fact that this is great advice. When I think of mi papá, the image of him holding a book always comes to mind. I never understood how he managed to find time to read, but he did and it made him happy. I’m infinitely grateful to him for showing my siblings and I that reading is awesome! I guess Mora was lucky to have a parent who thought so, too.

“I love to read, one of the many gifts my dear mom gave me. It’s a huge pleasure to share what we love” she told me. “Also, I know that literacy is power and essential in our democracy.”

¡A leer!

The Giveaway

As a special gift to SpanglishBaby readers, Pat Mora is giving away one autographed copy of  “Book Fiesta!” to one lucky visitor. ¡Gracias, Pat!

All you have to do is leave us a comment letting us know what you think about having a celebration like Día or what you do to celebrate books and reading with your children?

If you want to increase your chances of winning you can get additional entries by doing any of the following:

1. Subscribe to our feed by email and leave us an extra comment letting us know you did so. Make sure to leave the comment using the same email you subscribed with.  And please make sure you verify the subscription when you receive the email to do so.

2.  Subscribe via RSS.  Once you do, or if you’re already a subscriber, email us the “Secret Phrase” at the bottom of the post to:  giveaways@spanglishbaby.com.

3. Blog or Tweet about this giveaway. Just make sure to send us the link in an additional comment below.

4.  Email 5 friends and BCC us to:  giveaways@spanglishbaby.com.  Don’t worry-we’ll never share or collect anyone’s emails.

For the part that nobody likes, but we’ve gotta have, check out the Giveaway Rules.

This giveaway ends at midnight EST on Sunday, May 3rd 2009.  Good luck to all!

Entries/Comments that do not follow the submission guidelines will be invalid and automatically deleted.  Sorry, just need to keep  it fair…