Kudos

Pat Mora

From a recent press release: “REFORMA, the National Association to Promote Library & Information Services to Latinos and the Spanish Speaking, an affiliate of the American Library Association, announces Oralia Garza de Cortés and Susana Hinojosa as the 2010 Arnulfo D. Trejo Librarians of the Year (LOTY). The award is named in honor of Dr. Arnulfo D. Trejo, the founder and first president of REFORMA and is made possible by the generous financial support of the Trejo Foster Foundation for Hispanic Library Education.” Both Garza de Cortés and Hinojosa have long and distinguished careers in service to libraries. For more information please see the REFORMA website.

We also have news from REFORMA’s Southeast chapter that we want to share. The winners of the first Sara Howrey El día de los niños/El día de los libros Mini-Grant are the Charlotte Mecklenburg Library of Charlotte, North Carolina, and the Thomas B. Norton Public Library of Gulf Shores, Alabama. Charlotte Mecklenburg’s theme for this year is Día as “Diversity in Action” and the Norton Library will be holding it’s first Día celebration.

Congratulations to all the winners! 

Women’s History Month

Pat Mora

March, National Women’s History Month, is a grand time to think of the brave and bold women nationally, internationally, and in our own lives. I think of the women who now lead countries and who serve in national and state government positions in the U.S. In a celebrity culture, I think of the usually unknown female musicians, scientists, dancers, painters, women working at non-profits and all the educators investing in the next generation. I think of the unsung women who prepare meals at hospitals and schools, who care for children, the elderly, the dying. I also think of you and me working to make this a better world, each in our own way, and how we draw strength from the determination of a Frida Kahlo, an Eleanor Roosevelt and the poet Lucille Clifton who died recently. How they lift our spirits!

I wrote A LIBRARY FOR JUANA: THE WORLD OF SOR JUANA INÉS to bring attention to Mexico’s most famous woman poet, a prodigy I didn’t hear about until I was an adult. I wrote MARIA PAINTS THE HILL to bring attention to Maria Hesch, a self-taught Santa Fe artist inspired by Grandma Moses, and I wrote DOÑA FLOR: A TALL TALE ABOUT A GIANT WOMAN WITH A GREAT BIG HEART to create a tall tale about an immense yet gentle bilingual woman who spoke all animal languages, “even rattler.”
Together, may we help young women to believe in their potential and to invest in themselves.
      

Announcements

Pat Mora

There’s still time to register for the National Celebration of Latino Children’s Literature Conference, Connecting Cultures and Celebrating Cuentos, at the University of Alabama April 23 and 24. Nationally-recognized Latino children’s literature expert Oralia Garza de Cortés, award-winning Latina author Monica Brown, and award-winning illustrator Rafael López are all keynote speakers. There’ll be breakout sessions, research posters, talks by authors and illustrators, and book signings.

The Reading Tub and others in the >Kidlitosphere are winding down the annual blog tour for literacy, Share a Story – Shape a Future. The encouraging and enthusiastic posts offer a huge collection of ideas and thoughts about engaging children and teens as readers and building a community of literacy advocates.
Logo created by Elizabeth Dulemba

It’s Díapalooza!

Pat Mora

Please join us right here for DÍAPALOOZA, a month-long, virtual celebration of El día de los niños, El día de los libros/Children’s Day, Book Day. Every day during April, the post(s) will celebrate and support Día’s main goal of daily linking all children to books, languages and cultures.

We’re inviting your participation and hope you’ll send us visuals—videos, photos, posters, children’s art work; as well as stories, interviews, poetry, anecdotes, testimonials; interesting and surprising Día facts; quotes from kids, families, teachers and librarians; sayings and proverbs about reading and literacy; and special or funny Bookjoy moments. Send us cool Día ideas big and small as well as best practices. Your submissions can be humorous and fun or serious; inside or outside the box. Try and keep your submission to less than 200 words.

•When we need it: March 15 is our deadline though we welcome your submission now.

•The format: Short text can be in an email; longer text in a Word doc. Send photos as a jpeg; web resolution is okay. Submit artwork as a pdf or jpeg.

•Where to send it: webcontact@patmora.com

If you don’t feel you can contribute a post, please stop by Bookjoy in April for fun and inspiration; read the posts and comment.

Please forward to friends and colleagues. Feel free to post on Facebook or Twitter.

For more information on El día de los niños, El día de los libros/Children’s Day, Book Day, go to the Día pages on Pat’s website or ALSC’s Día site.

Presenting Díapalooza AND the new Día Dynamos!

Pat Mora

News Flash! Soon we’ll be posting information about how you can be part of our first Díapalooza next month. Each day of April, we’ll post Día ideas, photos, testimonials, etc. Look for more information to come soon or email us to be put on the mailing list.

I’m grateful for each of the committed Día advocates out there—librarians, teachers, professors, pre-service librarians and teachers, authors and illustrators, parents, students, etc. ¡Gracias! We’ve recognized a few of the Día Champions on this Bookjoy Blog and have decided that they’re more than champions: they’re Día Dynamos. Let me introduce Día Dynamo Beatriz Pascual Wallace. I met her a few years ago at a Día celebration at her library in Seattle.

Beatriz served on REFORMA’s Mora Award Committee last year. She’s this year’s chair and is doing an outstanding job. Please see the award guidelines on my website for more information. Consider volunteering at a Día event in your community. If there isn’t one, work with your nearby school or library to start one.

Thanks, Beatriz, for taking the time to answer some questions for us!
1.Tell us about your path to librarianship and work in youth services.
It was a long and winding road! I worked in newspaper publishing, children’s book publishing and independent bookselling before hitting on the idea of going back to school to become a librarian. Now that I’m a librarian, I wish I had come up with the idea 20 years ago but ultimately, the path I took ended up fully informing my library career. As for focusing on youth services, I’ve always had an affinity for children’s and YA literature, and in general, I’m kid-oriented at heart. When asked my age, I always have to think a moment how old I am because I definitely don’t feel that old!

2. What do you like most about your work?
There is nothing proprietary or competitive about librarianship. We enthusiastically share information with our patrons and with each other as professionals. It’s a collaborative and cooperative profession which I really appreciate!
3. How long have you been a member of REFORMA, and why did you become a member?
I became a member of REFORMA ten years ago while in library school and it was one of the best memberships for supplementing my library school education. I remember attending RNC2 (REFORMA’s second national conference) and coming away inspired and jazzed by all that I learned about serving Latino and Spanish-speaking patrons.
4. Why did you agree to be the Mora Award Committee Chair?
I really appreciate that the award promotes reading in all the languages we speak. I think it’s an important message to all families that their cultures and languages are valued and that they are celebrated and reinforced in books.
5. Can you tell us about your favorite Día memories?
My favorite Dia memories include the first Dia I ever hosted when I worked at Multnomah County Library. In my little branch, we had a festive celebration, with Head Start families in attendance, live music, and a visit with Maisy. Last year at my Seattle Public Library branch, we hosted a visit with the local Univision news anchor who is a terrific advocate for libraries and reading with kids. He read aloud from Pat Mora’s Book Fiesta. And two years ago, Seattle Public Library hosted Pat Mora. She spoke to kids at an elementary school near my branch and it was great to see the kids come to the branch asking for her books.
6. What are you reading now?
There is so much to keep up with in children’s and YA lit! I usually am listening to two and reading two all at once. At this moment, I’m also catching up on the recent award winners. I’m listening to Going Bovine by Libba Bray, reading Truce by Jim Murphy, and just finished Back Home by Julia Keller and Bad News for Outlaws by Vaunda Michaeux Nelson.
7. I always ask this question when interviewing someone for Pat. What is your favorite example of Bookjoy (either as a child or adult?)
For me, my moments of Bookjoy happen when a child or teen visiting the library tells me about a book they liked and we get into a conversation about it. I love seeing when a young person is profoundly affected by a book he or she read and they just can’t tell me enough about it!