ala/alsc/dia

1. www.ala.org/alsc/dia

2. The Context for Our Work with El día de los niños/ El día de los libros Oralia Garza de Cortés odgc@aol.com ALA Annual Conference June 24,2007 Washington, D. C.

3. ORIGINAL DÍA GOALS • To promote literacy and the • importance of linking all children • to books, languages and cultures • To honor children and their childhood • To honor a child’s home language and culture

4. To promote global under-standing • through library collections that • reflect our plurality • To connect the public and school • library to families and to the • community • To Promote bilingual and multilingual literacy in a multicultural society ORIGINAL DÍA GOALS

5. Historical Context for Día in the U.S.: A REFORMA Perspective • To address low literacy rates of Latino and poor children in the United States • To provide children and families’ access to books and entr’eé to the library • To address inequities in library services to Latino and other children and families of poverty

6. ISOLATION IS THE WORST POSSIBLE COUNSELOR. Miguel de Unamuno (1864-1936)

7. How Día Benefits Children • Children First/ Los niños primeros • All children have equal access to library • All children have opportunity to experience fun learning experiences • Families recognize libraries as essential to their learning • Every child and family feels welcome at the library and learns about quality programs available at the public library • Library partners with parents and other professionals in developing children’s literacy

8. Día helps Libraries to: • Honor cultures, traditions and languages of the communities that they serve • Reach out to underserved populations • Develop strategies for increasing library use among traditionally under-served populations

9. Día Provides Libraries Opportunities to: • Develop library collections that mirrors and reflects the diverse communities that they are/should be serving • Collaborate with other literacy-based organizations and professionals

10. Día Provides Librarians with Leadership Opportunities To develop outstanding services and program for ALL children and families To develop outstanding multicultural collections, resources, and services that reflect the needs and face of the community To be innovative in providing high-quality services and programs that meet educational needs

11. Developing Networks of Relationships Church Social Networks Public Library A person working alone has all the power of social dust. Saul Alinsky. 1909-1972. Community activist

12. Relationship is a pervading and changing mystery Eudora Welty American Autor

13. OUTCOMES • To institutionalize Día • (i.e. to make Día a permanent part of the library’s: • Strategic plan • Outreach Services • Programming • Our work as librarians serving • children and families

14. Core Ideology To Create a Better Future for Children through Libraries Día and the ALSC Strategic Plan (Approved 2006)

15. DÍa meets ALSC Criteria for Core Organizational Values • Member Services •  Collaboration •  Integrity and Respect •  Leadership •  Community •  Equity of Access •  Excellence and Innovation

16. Envisioned Future Primary Goal: To lead the way in forging excellent library service for all children • Members are actively involved in the association and feel a part of the ALSC community. • Members are actively recruiting other members. • Through the association, members have grown in their knowledge and leadership skills in order to reach their full potential. • Members are actively engaged in providing excellent services to children. • Association members are politically active.

17. Opportunities for ALSC Members • Collaborative ventures are synergetic and results exceed expectations. • ALSC is recognized as successfully advocating for children and children’s service within ALA. • ALSC is considered an innovator for future library service. • There is an ALSC presence in every community. • ALSC is aggressively pursuing collaborations to benefit children’s literacy. • ALSC is viewed as a significant player within ALA.

18. Characteristics of Collaboration • Individual  Group • Independent  Community • Dialogue • Creative Problem Solving • Opportunity for reform • Opportunity to Involve many in complex educational problems Source: Towards a Theory of Collaboration for Teachers and Librarians. Patricia Montiel Overall. www.ala.org/ala/aasl/aaslpubsandjournals/slmrb/slmrcontents/vol umume82005/ALA/_pr…

19. Learning • Socially constructed experience involving more capable people guiding those less capable to understand ideas beyond their development level. Vygotsy (1962, 1978) cited in Montiel Overall Towards a Theory of Collaboration…)

20. Día Meets Two of Four ALSC Advocacy Objectives Objective 1: Increase awareness of the value of excellent library service for all children. Objective 4: Increase access to library services. “ Service is what life is all about.” Marian Wright Edelman President, Children’s Defense Fund.

21. Día as a Tool for Collaboration * GOAL: ALSC will work collaboratively within ALA, the profession, and the wider community to ensure excellent library service for all children. • Objective 1:  Increase the effectiveness of ALSC’s current collaborative efforts. Objective 2:  Increase opportunities to work in coalition with other related groups. • Objective 3:  Increase public awareness of the value of library service to children.

22. Leadership Opportunities for ALSC Members @ the National Level We must do the things we think we cannot do. The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams. Eleanor Roosevelt ( 1884-1962) Humanitarian, U.N. Delegate

23. National Partnership Opportunities • Children’s Defense Fund • Reach Out and Read • First Book • Web Presence • Colorín Colorado • Reading Planet • Reading Rockets Courage happens when people unite.Anonymous

24. Partnership Opportunities at the National Level • The Library Profession PLA, Ethnic Caucuses, OLOS,AASL • National Council of La Raza-NCLR • RIF-Reading is Fundamental • NAEYC-National Association for Education of Young Children • Head Start

25. Strategies for Implementing Día at the State Level • Through State Library or State Library Association • State-wide Steering/Planning Committee • Example: Ca. Planning Grant-LSTA • Partnership with State Division or Round Table • Partnerships with local REFORMA Chapters

26. Other State Partnership Opportunities • Teacher Organizations • International Reading Association-IRA • National Education Association-NEA • NCTE –National Council Teachers of English • State Teachers’ Associations • State Bilingual Educators’ Associations CABE/TABE • State Affiliates of NAEYC • Head Start, NCLR

27. Developing a Culture of Literacy in the Community Through Día Día helps libraries to: • Celebrate cultures and traditions • Outreach to underserved populations • Develop strategies for increased library use among traditionally under-utilized populations • Develop library collections that mirrors the communities that they are/should be serving

28. Community Outcomes • A community that embraces reading as • the key to a better future • Children who love to read and be read to • A library-going culture • A college-going culture • College graduates and beyond • An educated community • An educated citizenry • A Strong Democracy

29. “ The reader, much like the writer before him will reach the universe of words, “ not so that everyone can become an artist” as Rodari once said- but so that no one remain a slave.” El lector, igual que antes lo consiguío el escritor, acederá al universo de las palabras ‘no para que todos sean artistas’ decia Rodari-sino para que nadie sea esclavo.” Ana María Machado in Antonio Ventura.Prologue. Lectura, escuela y creación literaria. Madrid: Grupo Anaya, 2002. Quote translated from the Spanish by Oralia Garza de Cortés.

30. Illustration by Raul Colón from Doña Flor: A Tall Tale about a Giant Woman with a Great Big Heart. Random House/Knopf, 1995.

31. WWW.ALA.ORG/ALSC/DIA