Today our guest blogger, Flo Truillo, writes about Día celebrations in Farmington and Albuquerque, New Mexico. Flo is the Youth Services Coordinator at the Farmington Public Library. She is also a Día Dynamo. Flo, thank you for your support of El día de los niños/El día de los libros, Children’s Day/Book Day!

Flo Truillo

The annual Día celebration at the Farmington Public Library will kick off with registration for “Dream Big” summer reading! Día provides a wonderful opportunity for parents to promote the power of books and reading to their own children. Every day of the year can be “Día,” a day for linking all children and books!

The free celebration is from 4-6pm during the afterschool hours with the themes “Let’s Move,” America’s Move to Raise a Healthier Generation of Kids, and “Dream Big,” the 2012 national summer reading program. Participants can enjoy a healthy snack (watch “A Spoon for Every Bite”) and check out a kid’s cookbook from the display, so bring your library card! More fun: Yo-yo entertainment, hands-on crafts, and two family gaming challenges in the multipurpose room; Skillastics, hula hoop, hopscotch; and outdoor library walking tours every 30 minutes! Visit with Madison from Peach’s Neet Feet! The celebration emphasizes the importance of literacy for children of all linguistic and cultural backgrounds and families can enjoy the puppet show Tikki Tikki Tembo in the Story Time room!

Mayor Tommy Roberts has issued a proclamation for April 30, 2012 as “El Día de los niños/ El día de los libros” in Farmington, NM, and urges all citizens to participate in the celebration of the potential of our children, and the role libraries play in the cultivation of that potential.

In Albuquerque, Día will be a part of Afterschool Programming at Whittier Elementary School. The Afterschool program participants will watch fellow students present about countries around the world. Also, the Albuquerque Bernalillo County Library System/Lomas Tramway will present an interactive program for young children with storyteller Ramona King, Knee High Tales for Me. The Rio Grande Education Collaborative Afterschool Program at 12 sites will distribute free books to all students for Dia celebration that will include storytelling, art and a nutritional snack. University of New Mexico Libraries will feature Arabic, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Persian, Portuguese, Russian, Serbo Croatian, Spanish, Tagalog, Ukrainian, Vietnamese displays of multicultural children’s books & artifacts of childhood, coloring & activity sheets, information for the College of Education community, etc. beginning April 23 through May 5.

The celebrations continue in other New Mexico locations:

Las Cruces: Thomas Branigan Memorial Library will have an author visit with Joe Hayes. Joe will read from his books. Free books will be given to each child and Joe will sign the books at the end of the program.

Rancho de Taos: UNM Taos Students and Taos High School students will present original theater skits to the 4th grade class at Enos Elementary. Fourth grade students will have the opportunity to share stories they have written. Parents and family members are invited to the performance and to see the display of multi-cultural books and resources. Program is facilitated by UNM-Taos Library.

Shiprock: Shiprock Branch Library will offer Navajo language story times and family Wii Gaming on April 30 throughout the day.