Why Does Cultural Diversity Matter?

Pat Mora

The UN General Assembly designates May 21 as World Day for Cultural Diversity for Dialogue and Development. Their website says “Bridging the gap between cultures is urgent and necessary for peace, stability and development.” The mission of Children’s Day, Book Day (Día) aligns: “a year-long commitment to celebrating all our children and to motivating them and their families to be readers, essential in our democracy.”

Join the collaboration of national and state library and literacy organizations, educators, presses and readers creatively striving to share bookjoy and its importance!

Promote Summer Reading

Pat Mora
Page from Book Fiesta! Celebrate Children's Day/Book Day Celebremos El día de los niños/El día de los libros, written by Pat Mora and illustrated by Rafael Lopez

Illustration by Rafael Lopez from Book Fiesta!

Children’s Day, Book Day is often known as Día, meaning day for our daily commitment to celebrating all our children and to motivating them and their families to be readers, essential in our democracy. As part of their daily commitment, many of our Children’s Day, Book Day supporters share resources for parents, librarians and educators to help them promote summer reading.

For Parents
Summer Reading and Fluency: Tips for Parents, from Reading Rockets.

Colorín Colorado’s Summer Learning & Reading page has links to articles guiding parents to make the summer educational–and fun.

For Teachers
AFT’s Share My Lesson offers thousands of lesson plans to support summer reading assignments and reinforce the skills and strategies that students have developed during the school year.

NCTE’s Plan Now for Summer Reading shares resources and links for teachers to use.

Librarians
ALSC’s 2019 Summer Reading Lists are free downloads that libraries can make available to patrons.

Celebrate Children!

Pat Mora

Happy Children’s Day, Book Day!

¡Feliz El Día de los Niños, El Día de los Libros! Día!

Book Fiesta! Celebrate Children's Day, Book Day/ Celebramos El Dia de los Ninos, El Dia de los LibrosAcross our country, April 30th and all year long, librarians, educators, organizations, publishers and families excite ALL our children to be readers. Today, we celebrate each of our children in a special way–all children, all cultures, all languages.

Many thanks, gracias, to all of you who promoted this year-long initiative that both celebrates children and literacy. Thanks to those of you who planned and hosted events and who are also encouraging our young people to be readers this summer.

Pat

Pima County Public Library: 23 Years of Día Celebrations

Pat Mora

Pima County Public LibraryThis year marks the 23rd year of Día celebrations– and Pima County Public Library in Tucson, Arizona has held events for every one of those years! Each Pima library branch celebrates Children’s Day, Book Day a little differently:

Martha Cooper Library is having a book giveaway during their storytimes for babies, toddlers and preschoolers; crafts, and a “Children’s Day Around the World” program.

La MariposaWheeler Taft Abbett Sr Library is hosting “La Mariposa Puppet Show.”

Murphy-Wilmot Library is also having a puppet show, “Dancing in the Desert,” as well as a special Teddy Bear Picnic Storytime.

Southwest Library will celebrate with teens and adults with their program “Creative Bookbinding for Teens and Adults.”

Sam Lena-South Tucson Library invites families to their celebration with “Family Storytime: Create a Square: Empowerment through Stories, Art and Perspective.”

Summer Reading 2019System-wise, Pima continues their Día work through their summer reading program, Summer Reading: A Universe of Stories. They’ll have a Family Fiesta Summer Reading Kick-Off on Saturday, May 18 with free books, live stories, a bookmobile and craft projects.

DIA everyday
Kendra Davey, Literacy Initiatives Program Manager, writes:
“In addition to our front-facing programs, we have been working quite a bit with our Children’s Services staff to think more deeply about what it means to celebrate Día De Los Niños, Día de los Libros and that having a program one time a year is important but not sufficient to serve our diverse community of families. To that end, we have started talking about DIA everyday with DIA representing diversity, inclusion, and access. We have had conversations and trainings about the importance of a diverse book collection, why representation in literature is so important for children’s self-identity, how to move beyond “cultural tourism” into cultural competence that is reflected in every interaction with the families we serve at the library. We still have a lot of work ahead of us to get this into the fabric of our libraries but we have really passionate, dedicated people here helping us do that work.”

Thanks to Kendra and everyone at Pima County Public Library for sharing bookjoy year-round!

Children’s Day, Book Day Resources

Pat Mora

Whether you’re planning your very first Children’s Day, Book Day celebration or you’d just like to gather new ideas, there are online resources to help.

On this website, visit Día Resources to Share, where you’ll find a complete Planning Booklet, a printable flyer, videos to share, public service announcements and links to helpful websites.

ALSC DiaThe Association of Library Service to Children (ALSC), a division of the American Library Association (ALA) provides many Día resources on their website and Facebook page, including:

Don’t forget to add your Día programs to the ALSC Program Registry!

First Book supports Children’s Day, Book Day by working within their own network; their website provides many great resources for teachers:

The Texas State Library & Archives Commission provides many resources through their Lone Star Dia page.

Share My LessonTeachers are important advocates for Children’s Day, Book Day. The American Federation of Teacher’s Share My Lesson website is a destination for educators who dedicate their time and professional expertise to provide the best education for students everywhere. visit their Día page to find lesson plans.