The Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC) has awarded mini-grants to 15 libraries to start Día Family Book Clubs, part of ALSC’s Everyone Reads @ your library grant, funded by the Dollar General Literacy Foundation.
Since 1996, El día de los ninos/El día de los libros (Children’s Day/Book Day or simply Día) nationally recognizes the importance of literacy for all children from all backgrounds. The libraries will also use the funds to incorporate Día into their existing programs throughout the year. The programs utilize multi-cultural, multi-lingual, and/or second language books with children and their families.
The winning libraries are:
Baldwin Boettcher Branch, Harris County Public Library, TX
Baraboo Public Library, WI
Beale Memorial Library, Kern County Library, CA
Blake Library, Martin County Library System, FL
City of Port Isabel Public Library, TX
Henderson Libraries, NV
Hilton Branch of the Maplewood Public Library, NJ
Maricopa Public Library, AZ
Newburgh Free Library, NY
Niagara Branch Library, Buffalo and Erie County Public Library, NY
North Plainfield Library, NJ
Orange County Library System, Southeast Branch, FL
Patterson Library, CA
Smyrna Public Library, GA
Waukegan Public Library, IL
ALSC will also make available Book Club lesson plans and additional resources for free download through the Día website to encourage libraries to participate in the Día Family Book Club program.
Día was founded by children’s book author Pat Mora, who proposed inking the existing Children’s Day with literacy, and its founding partner is REFORMA, the National Association to Promote Literacy and Information Services to Latinos and the Spanish-Speaking. The mini-grants are part of the activities leading up to Día’s 18th anniversary, culminating on April 30, 2014: Día: Diversity in Action.