For years librarians have sought out bilingual books–books that included both English and another language. We continue to do so and, in fact, several recent posts on listservs have asked for potential sources for these bilingual books. They are seen as important tools in the development of literacy and are aides in learning a second language. Reading skills transfer across languages and if you can read in one language you can read in another as you learn another language. What I’m finding interesting now is the increasing availability of polyglot, or trilingual, books. Yes, we’ve had a few books in the past that include rhymes, phrases, or son
gs in multiple languages, but each entry has usually been in English and one other language. I’m curious whether the increase in polyglot books is a trend that will continue and I’m also interested in how the books are being used in storytimes and with young children.
The Little Pim book series by Julia Pinsleur Levine recently released sever
al board books with different sections of the text in English, Spanish, and French so that the child being read to can learn words in all three languages. Little Pim, the trademark panda, is featured in stories that showcase colors, feelings, animals, and numbers. Each page has some task for him, such as finding the red item or identifying the happy face, and pull tabs or flaps that reveal the answer or the correct item.
Another concept book, Counting With Cats Who Dream by C
ara Armstrong was originally going to be published only in English and French. The story features short vignettes about different cats, where they live, and what they dream about as the reader counts cats from one to ten. I was asked to read an advance copy of the book and comment on it. Part of my feedback was that the book would be even more useful for a bilingual/multicultural storytime if it were also available in Spanish. Sometimes publishers do listen and the story is now to be released in the three languages.
So how are librarians using books with multiple languages? Do they work for storytimes? Are parents who want their child to be able to speak more than one –or even two– languages finding them? What other languages will we start to see mixed in with English and Spanish? Are young children learning to count cats in multiple languages? What other titles are out there? Please share your experiences.
There has been a lot of conversation on listservs and social media recently about using music in programming, especially bilingual or multicultural programming. Music plays a big role in early literacy and language development and studies have shown that music activates a number of parts of the brain. It’s easier to learn some things when they are set to music–many of us learned the alphabet singing The Alphabet Song and to this day I sometimes find myself singing it when I need to remember whether Q comes before or after R.
While most of us recognize the importance of including music in our programs and storytimes, finding appropriate songs and music in other languages can be a real challenge. Some libraries bring in performers as part of their programming for El día de los niños/El día de los libros or another special event but of course that may be affordable only once or twice a year. To include music in everyday programs and storytimes librarians usually will have to do it themselves. There are not many songbooks available that include songs from other cultures and in languages other than English but there are a few. It’s a little easier to 
find books with songs in Spanish, like De Colores and Other Latin American Folksongs for Children by Jose-Luis Orozco or The Bilingual Book of Rhymes, Songs, Stories, and Fingerplays: Over 450 Spanish/English Selections by Pam Schiller. For other languages try Skip Across the Ocean: Nursery Rhymes from Around the World collected by Floella Benjamin. In spite of the title, the book includes some songs and lullabies in English and the original languages. Unfortunately there is no music provided so librarians still have to find another source to get the melody.
Websites like Songs for Teaching provide a nice selection of songs in French, German, Spanish, and Chinese as well as songs from around the world (in the multicultural and diversity section) like Hello ‘Round the World, that teaches singers how to say hello in languages ranging from Hawaiian to Finnish and more. You can view the lyrics and listen to a clip of music or purchase downloads or printed material. Mama Lisa’s World is the mother lode for international music. Lyrics are provided in English and the original language and many songs have MP3 files or sheet music. Songs are available from every continent (except Antarctica). Even if you don’t speak the language, you may be able to learn the words through practice and add to your bilingual programming.
Burnaby Public Library in British Columbia, Canada has started collecting songs and
rhymes in many languages as part of their project, Embracing Diversity: Sharing
Our Songs and Rhymes. This project includes videos created by native speakers of songs and rhymes in 15 languages. Often the singer or singers (which sometimes includes children) are in traditional or ceremonial dress so showing the videos during a program can provide a more authentic experience. The lyrics and other printed material and links to additional resources are included along with the video. The site is growing and the library is inviting people to add to the collection by creating their own videos so the selection and languages will continue to grow. (Instructions for submitting a video are available at http://www.bpl.bc.ca/kids/embracing-diversity/add-your-own-video.)
If you know of other resources please share them. We can all help keep music — and languages –alive!
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My family moved a lot and we moved right before my 16th birthday so I don’t recall ever having a sweet sixteen party. We had just moved a few weeks before my birthday and I didn’t know many people. Maybe that explains why I’m so excited about the 16th birthday of El día de los niños/El día de los libros (Children’s Day/Book Day). I was there as this Día child was born and have been a loving aunt all of these years. What makes this birthday so sweet? So many exciting things are happening for the 16th birthday and Día has so many friends at the party!
Recently Pat Mora, Día’s founder, invited authors and illustrators to become Día Ambassadors. Check out the fabulous list at http://www.patmora.com/dia/dia_ambassadors.htm for some of the wonderful people who are adding their voices, in many languages, to Día. Books by people like George Ancona (¡Ole! flamenco), Jacqueline Jules (Zapato Power: Freddie Ramos Takes Off),
and Uma Krishnaswami (Chachaji’s Cup) provide fabulous books to use during Dia programming throughout the year. Throughout April to celebrate Día, these ambassadors will be blogging, tweeting, speaking, presenting, reading, and talking about Dia! Many will be reading their stories as part of the 2011 Díapalooza (a month of Día posts) on Pat Mora’s blog, Bookjoy. These readings can be shared with children at your library. The first, by Margarita Engle reading from The Wild Book, can be viewed now with more to come 
throughout the month.
The Día Every Day concept is kicking into high gear with more and more schools and libraries including bilingual literacy into everyday, ongoing programs, storytimes, and displays. More school libraries are celebrating Día this year and have registered their programs on the ALSC map. (There is still time to add your celebration to the map!) ALSC has also released the newly updated Día brochure, and it is available in Spanish and Chinese versions. The Día booklist includes a wide range of great books, with some suggestions for books that are bilingual in a variety of languages. The celebration of languages is growing…and that is very sweet!
One of the most energetic celebrations of El día de los niños/El día de los libros has to be
the celebration hosted by the Farmington (NM) Public Library. Since 1997 this library has celebrated bilingual literacy. The Farmington Public Library does many things that other libraries do, like bilingual book readings and author programs. For several years they have also hosted a tailgate party in the library’s parking lot as part of a day-long celebration with vendors and partner organizations. Community groups and organizations are able to distribute information about their programs for youth while also offering educational activities, games, and crafts for families. I love the idea of a tailgate party because it takes any mess out of the library while still keeping the celebration at the library. It’s also a great way to handle limited meeting room space and supplements what staff can do by having partner organizations provide activities and games. Check out the library’s website for a diagram showing how the parking lot was organized and photographs from past tailgate parties.
Not every library will be able to pull off a big event like this but Farmington includes some other activities in their programming that is easily emulated elsewhere. For example, the April 30th celebration of El da de los niños/El día de los libros also serves as the kick-off 
for summer reading registrations. One of my favorite ideas is the poetry garden. Children and teens are encouraged to write their own bilingual poetry or copy a favorite poem onto a paper flower. The flowers are then shared in the Poetry Garden/Poesia Jardín. Children are encouraged to bring a book wrapped as a gift. In a literary version of musical chairs, books are handed around until the music stops. Each participant then leaves for the day with a new book. Donations ensure that every child has a book.
Located in the Four Corners region of New Mexico, it is natural that Farmington’s celebration would include the Navajo language (Ałchíní Baa Hózhóogo Bee E’e'aah Naaltsoos Wólta’ Bee E’e'aah is Dia in Navajo). Although you may not have Navajo speakers in your 
community, you can share this beautiful language and culture through books like The Navajo Year, Walk Through Many Seasons by Nancy Bo Flood. The text includes many words in Navajo with pronunciation assistance provided in the back matter and the book is beautifully illustrated by Navajo artist Billy Whitethorne. Salina Bookshelf, Inc. is the publisher of this and many other culturally authentic books, a number of them with accompanying CDs with both English and Navajo narration. There are other books that feature Navajo stories but Salina Bookshelf is the only bilingual English-Navajo publisher so check out their other titles.
Don’t forget that you can get ideas from other Día celebrations, register and share your own
When we talk about winter holiday celebrations we usually think about Christmas and Hanukkah and maybe Kwanzaa. Often library programs and storytimes center on one or more of these festivities. Libraries that support El día de los niños/El día de los libros might want to a
dd another celebration that is becoming popular in school and public libraries.
Las Posadas (December 16-24), celebrated throughout Latin America and in the Phillipines, re-enacts Joseph and Mary’s journey to Bethlehem and their search for shelter. Both a religious and a cultural event, community celebrations usually include a procession, followed by music and food.
In the library, share books like The Night of Las Posadas by Tomie DePaola, Uno, Dos, Tres, Posada! by Virginia Kroll, or The Gift of the Poinsettia: El regalo de la flor de nochebuena by Pat Mora. Serve Mexican pastries and hot chocolate 
and provide materials for a simple craft, such as making mock luminaries (also called farolitos) with paper bags and inexpensive mock tea lights. Sometimes a piñata will be available; a star shaped piñata is appropriate and generally easy to find. Instead of having children hit the piñata with a stick, use a pull-string piñata or, alternatively, keep the piñata for decoration only and provide a small zip-lo
ck bag of treats for each child. Fill the bags with stickers, wrapped candies, and small toys.
Las Posadas is a great way to expand holiday programming and invite families to find their way to the library.
For the past month I’ve been working with Linda Mays to update and relaunch the ALSC website for El día de los niños/El día de los libros (Children’s Day/Book Day), also known as Día. Día is an enhancement of Children’s Day, a day designed to bring attention to the importance and well-being of children. Author Pat Mora added Book Day, linking the celebration of childhood and children with literacy and bilingual reading. On April 30, 2011, many libraries celebrated Día’s Quinceañera, its 15th birthday. That special birthday marks a transition from childhood and is a signal of maturity. In preparation for the new website, I spent time looking at the many ways libraries of all types have celebrated Día. The wonderful mix of ideas and the wealth of talent showed me that we really are entering the young adult years of Día. Programs have grown from simple bilingual storytimes to elaborate on-going programs that include support from community partners. In many communities, the library’s Día celebration has become a major event for families.
The new website will launch on Monday, November 14th. The site will include a resource guide and a program model for school libraries. It will also feature best practices from many libraries, highlighting the fabulous programs and services that have celebrated Día. If your library is not one of those selected, don’t despair; there were so many great ideas from which to select! Review the ideas submitted by your colleagues. Use these ideas as you plan your own Día celebration for 2012. You are also encouraged to register your program and receive free stickers and Día buttons. In 2011 more than 300 libraries registered through ALSC; let’s make 2012 an even bigger celebration!
There were many great and creative programs, but one of my favorites among those submitted is Souptelling, a program developed by Longmont Public Library, Longmont, CO with funds from a Dollar General Literacy Foundation mini-grant. Located about 30 miles west of Denver
, Longmont celebrates diversity and community. Families pre-registered for the Día Souptelling program, a series of programs that focused on one region of the world each month. Prior to the first session, registered families went to a local ceramics studio to make their own soup bowls (pictured left). 
At each session, a local catering company served soup from the featured region. After families enjoyed their soup, they learned a little about the region and listened to a storyteller who shared stories from one of the region’s cultures. The program included greetings shared in different languages and music to enhance both language literacy and geographical literacy. At the last of the six sessions, families were encouraged to bring soup that reflected the cuisine of their own heritage and were invited to share family stories, pictures, and artifacts. The mix of cultures, food, and stories was a perfect lead in to the library’s 2011 summer reading program, One World, Many Stories. Delicious!
One of the best professional development opportunities I have is teaching a class on programs for youth in libraries. I learn so much from my students! Many of the students are already working as teachers or in public libraries so I try to make the assignments very practical. For one assignment, students are required to observe a storytime program at another library. Even the most experienced programmers find this to be enlightening as they always learn something new or are reminded of something they used to do but haven’t included in a program for years. For another assignment, they put together a sample storytime.
This past summer Stephanie Leslie, who volunteers in an elementary school library while attending graduate school, submitted a Halloween program that I thought was just too wonderful not to share. I love the simplicity of the craft and the way it reinforces early literacy skills for preschoolers but it would also be a good craft for early elementary students to enjoy. So if you need ideas for your storytime, here is Stephanie’s plan.
Books to share: The Halloween Kid by Rhode Montijo, H is for Haunted House: A Halloween Alphabet Book by Tanya Lee Stone, and Trick or Treat, Old Armadillo by Larry Dane Brimner. 
Fingerplay: “Five Little Pumpkins”
Five little pumpkins sitting on a gate (Hold up 5 fingers)
The first one said, “My, it’s getting late.”
The second one said, “There are witches in the air.” (Point up with index finger)
The third one said, “But we don’t care.” (Point to self and shake head no)
The fourth one said, “Let’s run, let’s run” (Pump arms and tap feet)
The fifth one said, “I’m ready for some fun.”(Throw hands up the air)
“Oo oo,” went the wind and OUT went the lights. (Wave arms and then clap on OUT)
And the five little pumpkins rolled out of sight.
Finger Puppets Song: ”The Haunted House” (Sing to the tune “Wheels on the Bus” )
The ghost in the house goes “Boo! Boo! Boo!”
“Boo! Boo! Boo! Boo! Boo! Boo!”
The ghost in the house goes “Boo! Boo! Boo!”
On Halloween.
(Additional verses)
The steps in the house go “Creak, creak, creak…”
The cats in the house go “Meow, meow, meow…”
The bats in the house go “Squeak, squeak, squeak…”
The witch in the house goes “Cackle, cackle, cackle…”
Craft: Halloween Names
Materials: paper, crayons, markers, adhesive craft foam letters
Instructions: Using the foam craft letters and blank paper, help each child spell out their name. Then parents, assistants, or volunteers can enc
A few years ago Susan Raab of Raab Associates, a childrens book marketing firm, and I started offering webinars for librarians. At the time few people knew what these were and although we felt there was a lot of promise for continuing education, the comfort level for potential attendees was low and there were a number of technical problems that participants had to be ready to deal with. Fast forward about three years and webinars are everywhere!
So what’s a webinar? Essentially it is web-based conferencing that allows participation in a presentation, seminar, or workshop without leaving the comfort of your own computer. For children’s librarians webinars are becoming the way to go for continuing education. Fewer of us can dedicate the travel and class time to attend face-to-face courses. Most webinars last 60 to 90 minutes, allowing us to get a smaller chunk of information on a targeted topic.
While clearly webinars are not totally replacing face-to-face learning and work better for some topics than others, one of the webinars I’ve been most satisfied with for continuing education are the ones presented by Booklist to showcase new titles. Various publishers participate and the webinars have a lot of the same feeling I get from checking out exhibits at conferences. They allow me to learn about new books in a very condensed time frame. Check out The Scoop on Series Nonfiction: What’s New for Fall 2011 coming up on September 27, for example. This is a free webinar and another benefit to webinars is that they are often archived. If you missed YA Announcements: Fall 2011 last month you can download or playback the webinar at any time.
Some webinars are offered for a fee but it is usually a lot less than the cost of travel and registration for other courses. One of ALSC’s goals to provide children’s librarians with timely and affordable professional development opportunities so ALSC has developed aseries of webinars. In October and November Barbara Klipper, youth services librarian for The Ferguson Library in Stamford, CT, will teach Sensory Storytime: Preschool Programming That Makes Sense for Kids with Autism. This is training that can be hard to find locally. If you have wondered about how to host a mock Newbery/Caldecott election in your library, Steven Engelfried, MLIS, Youth Services Librarian, Wilsonville (Ore.) Public Library will show you how. And the topics keep growing so check out ALSC’s list.
I’ve only mentioned two sources for webinars that would be of interest to ALSC members but there are many more. Share some of your favorite sources and help us all continue our education.
One of the best opportunities for professional development comes at conference. I admit that after 35 years working in libraries–and attending at least that many ALA annual and midwinter conferences–I don’t attend many of the programs. Been there, done that. However it was inspiring and informative to participate in the celebration program for 15 years of El día de los niños/El día de los libros. This celebration of bilingual literacy, born in 1996 when author/advocate Pat Mora was inspired by a traditional Mexican celebration of children, Día’s mission is to spread “bookjoy” every day by linking children from all cultures with books, and celebrating together on and around April 30.
Cynthia Richey, ALSC Past-President, welcomed everyone to the program and talked about the place Día has in ALSC. REFORMA President, Lucia Gonzalez, gave an inspiring overview of the birthing of Día and the maturation of this Latino “child” that was now celebrating her Quinceañera (15th birthday). Pat Mora talked about all the libraries that she has visited and the work that librarians have done to support bilingual reading and literacy. I gave a brief overview of the work that various states like Texas, California, and Florida have done to support Día and talked about the future. One major goal for the future is to include more languages. While many libraries focus on Spanish, the majority non-English language spoken in our communities, the goal of Día is to support all cultures and all languages. Communities across our nation have people speaking every language from Chinese to Urdu and we can celebrate the beauty of those mother tongues. Oralia Garza de Cortés finished the presentations with inspiring words about the importance of bilingual literacy and the role librarians play in helping all children feel welcome in the library and in a community of literacy. Oralia also reminded us to submit the wonderful programs our libraries are doing for the 2011 Mora Award.
After the presentations we enjoyed some music, visited tables to view information from
libraries that had won Dollar General 2011 Everyone Reads @ your library Mini Grants, the Mora Award, or were willing to share their successful programs. Table talks are especially exciting because they offer professional development to the participants but also to the sponsoring staff. The participating libraries were:
Yolo County Library, Woodland, California (Mora Award)
Pima County Library, Tucson, Arizona (Mora Award)
Arlington Heights Memorial Library, Arlington Heights, Illinois
Nacogdoches Public Library, Nacogdoches, Texas (Dollar General)
Fremont Public Library, Mundelein, Illinois (Dollar General)
Then we all enjoyed cake and received a complimentary copy of Book Fiesta! by Pat Mora from publisher HarperCollins. After all professional development should be fun and this was a celebration!
By all accounts celebrations of El día de los niños/El día de los libros were fabulous this year. In spite of budget cutbacks and lower staffing levels, as many or more libraries celebrated bilingual reading this year as celebrated last year! But whether you hosted a Día event or not, don’t rest now.
To get a sense of what went on this year and begin to prepare for the upcoming year, visit Pat Mora’s website and click on the short video to hear directly from Día’s founder about the 15th Anniversary activities. In her presentation, Mora reminds us that through Día we are trying to link all children to books, language, and culture. She mentions that we may have ori
ginally thought of Día as being a one day celebration, primarily to encourage bilingualism in English and Spanish. However, through various Día activities and programs we hope to encourage children to hear and read many languages and discover that all languages are beautiful. A new Día booklist, helps librarians find exciting books like A Place Where Sunflowers Grow/Sabaku ni saita himawari by Amy Lee-Tai (English/Japane
se) or Line and Circle/lakeer aur gole by Radhika Menon (English/Hindi) that can be incorporated into world language storytimes. The downloadable brochure includes space for libraries to personalize the booklist before printing.
While it is wonderful to hear about all of the great programs from this year, it’s also time to begin thinking about the Día activities and programs you can do in your library throughout the year. As you begin to plan, add two continuing education opportunities to your ALA Annual Conference schedule. On
Saturday, June 25 from 8:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m. ALSC will sponsor Beyond Fiestas, Calaveras and Quinceañeras. This program (MCC-Rm 274) will be highly interactive and help librarians add contemporary Latino themes to programs throughout the year
through high-quality literature. One of the speakers will be noted author René Colato Laínez.
Immediately following that program, from 10:30 to noon (MARCC-RIver Bend BR), join Pat Mora, Oralia Garza de Cortes, Jeanette Larson, and others for Many Children, Many Cultures, Many Books, a 15th anniversary celebration of Día. In addition to sharing new Día resources, attendees will discover multicultural programming techniques for year round Día 
celebrations. You could even be a part of this program! Amy Holcomb, ALSC Public Awareness Committee 2011 Program Organizer, is looking for people to share table top presentations that are representative of the multicultural programming in your library that supports Día’s mission. According to Holcomb, program attendees will have time to visit the tables before and after the main speakers. If you are interested in being part of this
It seems like almost every day I see something on Facebook, a blog, or the ALSC listserv about a book that has been challenged. Or someone fields a question about how to handle a book about a topic that parents might prefer that their child not know about. As librarians we want young people to read the books they want to read, but sometimes we also are encouraging them to read a book they need to read. Given our own personalities and beliefs, it can be daunting to hand a child a book on a topic we ourselves are not totally comfortable talking about. The next webinar in Booklist’s series will look at how we can find ways to talk to children and teens about tough issues. These might include anything from the Holocaust to contemporary racism. In addition to listening to several noted speakers share their views and expertise, participants will be able to submit comments and questions. Visit this link for more information and to register. The program will be held on Thursday, April 7 at 1:00 p.m. CENTRAL TIME but will also be archived for later listening. The one hour program is free so encourage others on staff to listen along, too.
Oh, my…I wish I were in the VA area. I’m not but I know a lot of ALSC members are so I’m sharing this information. It’s FREE! And Jon Scieszka is certainly one of the funniest people I’ve ever met. He’ll be speaking about Guys Read on Monday, April 4 at 7:00 p.m. To register go to http://www.eventbrite.com/event/1324871727/efbnen and note that the program is for adults only. What a fabulous opportunity. I hope someone who goes will share some of Jon’s insights and humor.
If your library has been doing neat things for El Día de los Niños/El Día de los Libros, consider applying for the Mora Award. The Estela and Raúl Mora Award was established by author and poet Pat Mora and her siblings in honor of their parents and to promote El Día de los Niños/El Día de los Libros (Children’s Day, Book Day), also known as Día. Culminating celebrations of this year-long initiative that links all children to books, languages, and cultures are traditionally held on or near April 30. This year marks the 15th anniversary of Día.
Libraries and schools that host Día programs during spring 2011 are encouraged to submit an application by August 15, 2011. The award will be presented at the American Library Association’s 2012 Midwinter meeting to the most exemplary program celebrating El Día de los Niños/El Día de los Libros. The Mora Award consists of a $1,000 stipend and a commemorative plaque. Members of REFORMA, the National Association to Promote Library and Information Services to Latinos and the Spanish-speaking, serve as judges for the Award
Application guidelines are available on the REFORMA website www.reforma.org or at http://www.patmora.com/dia.htm.
For additional information please contact the chair of the 2011 Mora Award committee Beatriz Pascual Wallace at [email protected].
The winners of this year’s Bank Street College of Education’s Children’s Book Awards will be honored on March 17th at Bank Street College of Education, 610 West 112th St. NY NY. Join the committee and winners at 9:30 a.m. for coffee. The presentation will be held from 10:00 to 11:00 followed by book signings. RSVP to [email protected].
Everyone in the New York area is invited to meet the winners of :
The Josette Frank Award for fiction
The Flora Stieglitz Straus Award for nonfiction
The Claudia Lewis Award for poetry
The complete list of Best Books will be available online at http://www.bnkst.edu/bookcom/ by March 17.
If you are planning a trip to Texas over Spring Break (or anytime) try to stop by the 
NCCIL in Abilene. The current show is All the World’s a Stage: Anita Lobel. The exhibit is on display at the National Center for Children’s Literature through May and admission is free. Well worth the trip! Abilene is just west of Ft. Worth and is a lovely, accessible city.
A lot of bloggers and social media gurus are celebrating Women’s History Month. Check out this one, Kidlit Celebrates Women’s History Month for interesting links to literature. The collective bloggers include authors Sue Macy, Kathleen Krull, Tanya Lee Stone, and others along with librarian bloggers like Shelf Employed. Interesting reading plus some contests to win books!
J.K. Rowling received the Hans Christian Andersen Literature Prize Tuesday in Denmark, in a presentation that coincided with the city’s annual Harry Potter Festival. This is a new prize and includes a cash award as well as a bronze sculpture of The Ugly Duckling. The prize is given to a writer whose work can be compared to that of Andersen.
Note that this is different from The Hans Christian Anderson Award sponsored by IBBY, the International Board on Books for Young People.
Terry Young shared a wonderful article and this photo about the recent dedication of a bench in New Orleans honoring Coleen Salley, who passed away two years ago. The bench really captures Coleen’s wonderful personality and, of course, represents her fabulous character. I look forward to visiting it in person when ALA is in New Orleans next summer. What a wonderful tribute to a fabulous librarian, author, storyteller, and friend. 
ALSC member Rose Zertuche-Treviño died on April 30. Fittingly, her death occurred on El día de los niños/El día de los libros, a celebration of reading for children of all cultures and linguistic backgrounds that Rose worked to establish and strongly supported. Most recently Rose serv
ed as chair of the Newbery Award committee and the crowning achievement of her career may well have been presenting that award to Neil Gaiman in Chicago.
Rose served as the youth services coordinator for the Houston Public Library until last October. Prior to that Rose was an independent consultant and the children’s services coordinator at San Antonio Public Library. She was very active in ALA, REFORMA, and the Texas Library Association and served on many committees. In addition to writing for ALA, which published her books Read Me a Rhyme in Spanish and English (2009), a collection of Latino rhymes, songs, finger plays, riddles, and other programming ideas for librarians who work with babies, toddlers, preschoolers, and school-age children, and The Pura Belpré Awards: Celebrating Latino Authors and Illustrators (2006), Rose wrote all or part of several program manuals for the Texas Reading Club. She is survived by her husband, Pete, and their children, Steven and Jaclyn.
The REFORMA Executive Board has approved the creation of the Rose Treviño Scholarship to honor Rose’s memory and to further the work that was so important to her. Donations towards the scholarship can be sent to Robin Imperial, REFORMA Treasurer, District of Columbia Public Library, Petworth Neighborhood Library, 4200 Kansas Avenue NW, Washington DC 20011 earmarked for the Rose Treviño Scholarship.
Rose’s family has also suggested that gift cards for Border’s be sent to them for use in buying books for the San Antonio Children’s Shelter in honor of Rose. Other appropriate memorials could be made in support of the ALA Spectrum Scholarships, or ALSC’s initiatives that support work Rose was involved with: the Pura Belpre Initiative or the El día de los niños/El día de los libros initiative. Another option would be to give to the Texas Library Association to support the Texas Bluebonnet Award or the Texas 2×2 Reading List, both projects with which Rose was involved.
A rosary will be said on Friday, May 7, 2010 at 7:00 p.m. at The Grotto, 5712 Blanco, San Antonio, TX. The memorial service is Saturday, May 8, 2010 at 10:00 a.m. at Los Patios, 2015 Northeast Loop 410, San Antonio, TX 78217. Flowers should be sent to Los Patios. Cards and notes can be send to Rose’s family at their home address, 10503 Burr Oak, San Antonio, TX 78230.
Please feel free to use the comments section of the blog to post your remembrances of Rose. A Rose Treviño Memorial Page has also been established at http://sites.google.com/site/rosetrevinomemorialpage/.
ALSC member and Newbery award winner Susan Patron just shared that she and Roger Sutton, editor of the Horn Book, will be speaking at Pitzer College in Los Angeles on Friday, February 19. The topic is “What Makes a Good Banned Book?: How Children’s Literature Gets Into Trouble.” It’s free and the program starts at 2:00 p.m. Check for details at Pitzer College. What a great opportunity for those who are in Southern California.
The University of Connecticut is host to a number of excellent interviews with children’s authors conducted by Susan Raab. Recent additions include interviews with Laurie Halse Andersen, Katie Davis, Lois Lowry and Mark Teague. These are great supplements for children’s literature classes or use with author studies in schools. Access is free.
The Texas State Library is hosting this webinar and has invited people from anywhere in the country to join in. It is free so take a look. Note that the time is CENTRAL and adjust for your location.
Wednesday, February 17, 2010, 10-11 AM Central Time
Providing innovative programming for the school-age crowd during the school year can be a challenge, especially when libraries are competing with children’s busy after-school schedules. Participants in this webinar will learn how to provide fun and educational programs for children ages 5-12 that will have them running to your library after the school bell rings. Programs featured include Chess Club, Fun with Science, Art Explorers, Craft Time, and a KidTrekkers around the world cultural program.
About the Presenter
Anne Neidinger is a Children’s Librarian at the Lone Star College-Tomball Community Library. She holds a Master’s in Library and Information Science with a Youth Certification from the University of North Texas. She has presented at several Texas Library Association conferences and co-authored “Igniting a Children’s Summer Reading Program on a Piggy-Bank Budget” in the Texas Library Journal (2006). Anne also co-wrote the Elementary Programs Chapter of the 2009 Texas Reading Club manual. At her library, she has coordinated many after-school programs and enjoys seeing her school-age customers return again and again to the library.
Register here:
http://www.tsl.state.tx.us/ld/workshops/webinars/afterschoolprograms/index.html
A Kaiser Family Foundation report has been released that finds that kids are still reading. “According to Generation M, total media usage by that age group rose to seven hours and 38 minutes per day in 2009 from six hours and 21 minutes in 2004. Time spent with digital media rose in all categories, while the use of print media fell from an average of 43 minutes per day in 2004 to 38 minutes in 2009.”
According to the summary, “Over the past 5 years, time spent reading books remained steady at about :25 a day, but time with magazines and newspapers dropped (from :14 to :09 for magazines, and from :06 to :03 for newspapers). “ “The decline in reading print was due entirely to young people spending less time with magazines and newspapers over the last five years, while the time spent reading remained steady at about 25 minutes per day.”
View the report and other information at http://www.kff.org/entmedia/mh012010pkg.cfm. It’s interesting that with multitasking, kids pack more time into their media hours–10.75 hours of media into 7.5 hours of time.
If your library has paraprofessional staff or children’s librarians that are new to their job, I’m teaching a continuing education class on Preschool Storytimes in Public Libraries for AMIGOS on February 2 and 4, 2010. The class has two 2-hour sessions and is totally live online. Although AMIGOS works primarily with libraries in the Southwest, anyone can participate in the classes. (I apologize for the self-promotion but these have been popular classes for volunteers and staff who conduct storytimes but have not had much formal training or experience.)
Take a chance on art and help Texas libraries by buying a raffle ticket (or several) for the Texas Disaster Relief Fund. The site includes a link for printing out the raffle ticket and tickets may be purchased by anyone anywhere. This is a great opportunity to win a fabulous piece of art for your library or your personal collection while helping a great cause.
This year’s piece was donated by Susan L. Roth. In the piece, big white mouse and little brown mouse are tending a garden of flowers on the May pages in Susan L. Roth’s charming board book for preschoolers, My Love for You All Year Round (Dial, 2004). The original artwork for this spread, donated by the artist, is a multi-layered collage of colored and textured papers rich in color, shading, and detail.
Susan L. Roth is an author and illustrator of more than 40 books, including a recent collaboration with Greg Mortenson to create Listen to the Wind: The Story of Dr. Greg and Three Cups of Tea. Through text and collages of paper and fabric from around the world, Roth and Mortenson share the story of his school-building initiatives in Pakistan.
The Texas Library Disaster Relief Fund was created in 1999 to provide funds to help Texas libraries that have suffered natural and other disasters.
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Yesterday I “attended” SLJ‘s “Books for Boys” webinar moderated by none other than Jon Scieszka. I’m also a fan of Booklist‘s webinars. Both Booklist and SLJ make archived copies of webinars available. Here’s one I heard about last night at my daughter’s back-to-school night – MIT offers 2000 courses for free via MIT OpenCourseWare http://ocw.mit.edu/courses/. Not many offerings for children’s librarians (!) but fascinating stuff, nonetheless.