El Día de los niños, El Día de los libros

Celebrating Children, Books, and Cultures

Joint Conference of Librarians of Color

October 13, 2006

Joint Conference of Librarians of Color

Celebrating Children’s Books and Cultures

Rose Treviño

October 13, 2006

Dallas, Texas

A Successful Día Celebration: Step by Step

  1. The first step is deciding to celebrate Día.
  1. Take baby steps. If you are hesitant or unsure, start small. There is always room to grow.
  1. Consider the needs and the resources of the community served as well as the staffing and budget resources of the library. Remember, Día programs can range from a single story time or a book display to a citywide celebration.
  1. Look at resources available through ALSC, the Texas Library Association, and REFORMA. There is no reason to re-invent programs when you can borrow ideas that have worked for others.
  1. Make an outline of the activities you would like to include and what is involved in producing them.
  1. Consider who will do the work - the library staff, children in art classes, and/or volunteers.
  1. Check with community organizations, classroom teachers, and other librarians to see if they are planning similar celebrations. Knowing what else is happening in the community will avoid scheduling conflict.
  1. Think about community partners who can help you. Begin making a list of these potential partners. Think of what you want from them. Money? Volunteers?
  1. Keep your supervisor informed. Write a brief proposal outlining your plans. Send the outline to your supervisor and then make an appointment to discuss this later. Be sure this proposal, which may be a compilation of well-thought-out bullets, addresses the goals of the organization.
  1. Meet with your supervisor and discuss the plans. If the program is something you and your supervisor agree on, you are ready to go.
  1. Make a detailed outline of the activities and plans for the day. Allow time in the schedule for delays, unexpected events, and serendipity; don’t over schedule.
  1. Develop a tentative budget that includes costs for travel, food, crafts, publicity, mailings, books, honoraria, and other items that will be necessary for the celebration. Show this to your supervisor along with your outline and get approval to expend funds before moving forward.
  1. Enlist volunteers to participate in the celebration. Be specific about what you want them to do.
  1. Contract with any paid participants, such as a visiting author or storyteller or local artist, indicating what you expect of them.
  1. Now that the program is established, contact newspapers, local radio and television stations, and local business to find out the procedures for advertising. Find out the deadlines for press releases for media outlets in your city or town.
  1. About three weeks before the scheduled celebration send a follow-up letter to all participants, reconfirming their presence and reminding them of your expectations.
  1. Begin putting out your publicity announcing the celebration.
  1. Make of list of what you will have to do, including setting up the area, arranging local transportation for visiting speakers, and ensuring that the books you will use are available.
  1. On the day of the celebration, remember that this program is indeed a celebration. And enjoy!
  1. Once the celebration is over, send thank-you notes to participants, check to see that honoraria have been paid, and evaluate the program.
  1. Send the evaluation (photographs and comments from children are always a plus) to your supervisor along with a thank-you note for his or her support.
  1. Begin planning next year’s El Día de los Niño/El Día de los libros

The Día Celebration

The mini celebration…

You will need the following:

  1. book display of books appropriate for the age level your program is for
  2. Tissue paper flags attached to wooden dowels
  3. a planned storytime

Día’sParade of Books – invite your storytime group to select a favorite book from the display you have prepared. Tell your group what the Día celebration is and how you will celebrate together. Give them each a flag that you have prepared in advance using colorful tissue paper and crepe paper streamers attached to wooden dowels. Your storytime group will follow you through the library on your Día march holding their favorite book and a colorful flag. After the march, come back to the storytime area and read a few stories, recite rhymes, sing a few songs, and do some fingerplays. Your storytime can be done entirely in English; however, if your community is made up of Spanish speakers, you may want to try a storytime in Spanish or in English and Spanish. A Spanish storytime plan for preschoolers can be found at Click on Spanish Storytime Plan for Pre-school Children and Their Parents for the site.

The big celebration…

Día’s Festival of Children & Books – invite families to participate and offer a selection of activities to include storytelling, a musical performance, an arts & crafts area, a book give-away, an author signing, food, and dance. Here is what an agenda might look like:

Celebrate Día, A Festival of Children & Books

8:45 a.m.Welcome and Mayoral Proclamation read by Mayor (or Library Director) and proclaiming (date) as El día de los niños, El día de los libros in (city)

9:00 a.m.Doña Flor: a Tall Tale About a Giant Woman With a Great Big Heart by Pat Mora and illustrated by Raul Colón. Read in English and Spanish by the author. Pat Mora sponsored by (name) Bookstore.

9:45 a.m.Book give-away and author signing. Books donated by the Friends of the (name) Public Library.

10:30 a.m. Salsa Aerobics for Kids: learn simple salsa steps with energetic salsa music for kids

11 a.m.Arroz con leche and other Latin American rhymes in Spanish and English followed by a taste testing of arroz con leche (Parental permission required for children to taste test)

11:30 a.m.Latin Flavor – music by this group will engage children and families with popular children’s songs in English and Spanish

More Ideas:

  • Latin American arts & crafts program: engage in a Latin American craft using ideas from books in your collection. Display these books and encourage check out.
  • Latin Food Show: mimic a popular TV food network show using cooks from the community. Talk to your storytime moms, grandmas, restaurant owners. Presenters could prepare a simple treat showing ingredients and steps along the way. A display of cookbooks will be ideal.
  • Dance: teach children how to dance the Mexican Hat Dance, La raspa, and more popular Latin dances. Contact someone in the community to lead the group. Have a stack of books, CDs, and DVDs about Latin dance ready for check out.
  • Cuentos y más: Invite a Spanish speaking storyteller to join you in a bilingual storytime featuring stories, games, music, and more.

Even More Ideas:

You know your community, so tailor your program to your community needs. Blend the local culture into your celebration. Go to to see what libraries in cities across the country did this year. Here’s just a short list:

  • The Maricopa County District celebrated with performances of Childplay’s adaptation of Pat Mora’s book "Tomás and the Library Lady.”
  • Berkeley Public Library featured musician Asheba and the splendid clown Chiquy Boom
  • Broward County Libraries in Florida had festivals that featured children’s performers, storytellers, authors, hands-on crafts, and free books
  • The Kalamazoo Public Library hosted a Mexican dance troupe
  • At the Santa Fe Public Library, Wise Fool spun tales of fun and fancy while teaching kids and adults about the art of puppetry
  • Pat Mora kicked off Día at the Houston Public Library by reading her award-winning book, Doña Flor
  • In Virginia, Salvadoran singer-songwriter Lilo Gonzalez and his Trio performed at the Arlington Public Library

The Web

For more information and ideas, visit one of the following web sites:

ALSC:

REFORMA:

Texas State Library:

Texas Library Association:

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Rose V. Treviño

Youth Services Coordinator

Houston Public Library