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REFORMA, the National Association to Promote Library and Information Services to Latinos and Spanish Speaking, is celebrating it’s 40th anniversary and will be holding it’s 4th National Conference this week. The four day conference starts Sept 15 (which coincides with the start off National Hispanic Heritage Month) at the Westin Hotel in Denver, CO, USA and is expected to draw over 500 participants. The theme for the conference is “Elevating Latino Services to a Higher Level: Juntos in the Mile High City!” and a plethora of events have been scheduled including seminars, author readings, continuing education workshops, enlightening panel discussions, and vendor exhibits.

If you are in the Denver area and interested in attending, you should know that you don’t have to be a member of REFORMA to attend. Non-members can still register and are welcome to come participate as well as purchase exhibit only passes. Click here to download the schedule and see what might appeal to you.

Among the many great events planned is an author luncheon with award winning author and literacy advocate Pat Mora on Sept 16 from 12:30 – 2:00 pm

Extreme Yum: The Zing of Sharing Bookjoy & Growing Día

A former teacher, university administrator, consultant, and the author of many award winning children’s books, Pat is the also the founder of the family literary initiative El día de los niños / El día de los libros, Children’s Day / Book Day (Día), now an initiative of at the American Library Association. The year-long commitment to linking all children to books, languages and cultures, and of sharing what Ms. Mora calls “Bookjoy,” culminates in Día events across the country. Día celebrated its 15th Anniversary in April 2011.

To learn more about Pat Mora  read our interview with her here.

PaperTigers’ September 2007 and September 2008 issues focused on National Hispanic Heritage Month and include interviews, articles, books and artwork that capture the Hispanic temper of our times.

Children’s Day/Book Day, also known as El día de los niños/El día de los libros (Día), is a celebration of children, families, and reading held annually in the USA on April 30. The celebration emphasizes the importance of literacy for children of all linguistic and cultural backgrounds. Founded by author Pat Mora in 1996, Día is now hosted by the Association for Library Service for Children (ALSC) along with founding partner REFORMA, the National Association to Promote Library and Information Services to Latinos and the Spanish-Speaking.

Visit the ALSC’s  Dia Celebrations website to see what is planned this year. You can register your library’s Día program, print brochures, use the interactive map to see what other communities are doing to celebrate as well as access the updated list of books and list of Web sites for Día 2010.

Other great ways to get into the Día spirit are to visit Pat Mora’s blog Bookjoy! and also to read Pat’s book Book Fiesta! Celebrate Children’s Day/Book Day: Celebremos El día de los niños/El día de los libros. Illustrated by Rafael López and dedicated to the members of REFORMA and ALSC, “who connect children and books,” Book Fiesta! is a vibrant bilingual homage to the importance of reading and books in children’s lives. The book includes a letter from Pat about why she founded El día de los niños/ El día de los libros, and suggestions for celebrating the occasion creatively and with gusto. Read PaperTigers’ review Book Fiesta here.

Interested in learning how you can get a Día celebration organized in your community? Click here for information on upcoming educational sessions such as the one to be held June 28, 2010, during the ALA Annual Conference in Washington, D.C. entitled “Día is Diversity in Action”.

School librarian, teacher and incoming PBBY chairman Zarah Gagatiga has passed along the following information on two exciting events taking place in July in the Philippines:

The 2nd National Conference on Children’s Literature - July 16 & 17

The Pilandokan (National Research Society for Children’s Literature) and the National Commission for Culture and the Arts will be sponsoring the Second National Conference on Children’s Literature with the theme “Panitikang Pambata sa Edukasyon” (Children’s Literature in Education) on July 16-17 at the University of the Philippines - Diliman.

This national conference will feature paper presentations and workshops by scholars, creative writers, artists, and children’s right advocates. Topics include the Filipino concept of child and childhood; the state of children’s literature in the Philippines; book piracy; literacy programs for urban poor children and the deaf; and the formation of Filipino childhood identity. The Keynote Speaker will be the Pilandokan Founding President Dr. Rosario Torres-Yu.

For further information, please contact Dr. Eugene Y. Evasco and/or Prof. Will P. Ortiz (pagongatmatsing (at) yahoo(dot)com).

26th National Children’s Book Day - 3rd week of July

For the first time ever, the Philippine Board on Books for Young People (PBBY) will hold the celebration of NCBD (National Children’s Book Day) outside Manila in Marikina City. This year’s themes focus on leadership and readership with the slogan Readers Make Good Leaders!

The whole month of July promises to be a fun-filled month of reading, writing and interactive activities for children and literacy advocates. The Salanga and Alcala Prizes will be awarded during the opening ceremonies on July 21, 2009 at the Marikina Convention Center.

You can read about the preparations in Zarah’s post here and I’ll post more information on the Children’s Book Day festivities in the coming weeks.

(Click on event name for more information)

Asia-Pacific Conference on Children’s Book Publishing~ Jul 1 - 3, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Storytellers of Canada 16th Annual Conference~ Jul 2 - 6, Saskatoon, SA, Canada

4th Iberian Congress on Literature for Children~ Jul 3 - 5, San Sebastian, Spain

18th International Poetry Festival of Medellin~ Jul 5 - 12, Medellin, Columbia

NAIDOC (National Aborigines and Islanders Day Observance Committee) Week~ Jul 6 - 13, Australia

Multicultural Children’s Literature Conference~ Jul 7 - 8, Boston, MA, USA

15th Tokyo International Book Fair~ Jul 10 - 13, Tokyo, Japan

SCBWI Tokyo Authors & Illustrators Networking Night~ Jul 10, Tokyo, Japan

9th Annual Pacific Northwest Children’s Book Conference~ Jul 14 - 18, Portland, OR, USA

25th National Children’s Book Day~ Jul 15, Philippines

10th Harlem Book Fair~ Jul 17 - 20, Harlem, NY, USA

Montana Poetry Day~ Jul 18, New Zealand

17th Storytelling Festival at the Edge~ Jul 18 - 20, Stokes Barn, United Kingdom

Children’s Books Ireland ‘Summer Stories’ Family Event~ Jul 20, Dublin, Ireland

19th Annual Children’s Book Fair~ Jul 21 - Aug 8, Buenos Aires, Argentina

Maori Language Week~ Jul 21 - 27, New Zealand

IRA: Heritage Language Literacy Development in SE Asia Conference~ Jul 22 - 23, Jakarta, Indonesia

Hong Kong Book Fair~ Jul 23 - 29, Hong Kong

13th Lima International Book Fair~ Jul 24 - Aug 3, Lima, Peru

22nd World Congress on Reading: Reading in a Diverse World~ Jul 28 - 31, San Jose, Costa Rica