Multnomah County Library An Administrator’s View of Día de los Niños y Día de los Libros

ALSC National Institute, , Ellen Fader Multnomah Background 17 MCL locations serve Portland, Gresham, and rest of county Separate units dedicated to adult and youth outreach 1995 Ellen Fader started as Youth Services Coordinator 1997 MCL awarded first of 2 Library Services and Technology Act grants (LSTA) to start LIBROS

ALSC National Institute, , Ellen Fader WHY LIBROS? Latino population in county rapidly expanding Cultural and language service barriers Staff lacked language skills Library Outreach in Spanish (LIBROS) addresses issues Started with one Spanish-speaking Library Outreach Specialist in January 1998 Marcela Villagran proposed MCL’s first Día celebration

ALSC National Institute, , Ellen Fader Planning our First Día Objective: to celebrate with Spanish- speaking children and their families the magic of books and stories, and to celebrate their culture and language One location -- a diverse, centrally located branch with large and small meeting rooms and enthusiastic staff

ALSC National Institute, , Ellen Fader First Día Highlights 10 a.m. – 3 p.m., Friday April 30, 1999 Target audience of 200: preschoolers and their families Invited partners Marcela already served with bilingual or monolingual outreach visits (Head Start; Migrant Even Start; Housing Authority of Portland sites; child care programs; social service agency programs) Advertised through partners’ newsletters; Spanish newspapers/radio; Library flyers and newsletter

ALSC National Institute, , Ellen Fader What we promised: Join us for a traditional celebration of childhood and bilingual literacy honoring the power and magic books bring to children. Sponsors thanked on program: Oregon Public Broadcasting (giveaway books from OPB’s Ready to Learn initiative), Don Pedro Mexican Food Restaurant (food for volunteers), El Hispanic News (ads), Safeway (refreshments for families), and Pat Mora (inspiration).

ALSC National Institute, , Ellen Fader First Día Program Donated apples, cookies and juice Library info table (library card applications and general Library info brochure in Spanish; takeaway bookmarks, stickers and paper book bags to color Local clinics did child health screenings 4 storytimes with easy crafts

ALSC National Institute, , Ellen Fader 1999 Activities Puppet Shows Music Dancers Children’s Museum hands-on activity Tables with crafts Storytelling Picnic at the Library: tablecloths on meeting room floor for groups to eat the lunches they brought Community Fair (WIC, Oregon Public Broadcasting, Head Start & social service agencies) Library Tours

ALSC National Institute, , Ellen Fader 1999 Workers LIBROS Advisory Committee (Library staff & community members who advised on LSTA grant) Staff from Oregon Council for Hispanic Advancement (OCHA) Hispanic clubs from local high schools Volunteers recruited by Volunteer Services or by Marcela for LIBROS Bilingual staff (paid)

ALSC National Institute, , Ellen Fader Wow! Nearly 1,000 people attended the 1999 celebration Multnomah County Library was the first agency in the Northwest to observe Día de los Niños y Día de los Libros. Having a Latina county commissioner involved brought great publicity

ALSC National Institute, , Ellen Fader What we changed for Día 2000 Needed to print program in Spanish and English Needed and got more media sponsors: El Hispanic News returned; we added The Oregonian and KBOO Many more wanted to participate; all thanked on program (Spanish classes; restaurants; science museum; zoo; Police Activities League)

ALSC National Institute, , Ellen Fader More 2000 changes Moved to a branch library where more migrant families lived Branch had 1 large and 2 small meeting rooms Changed to a Thursday (Head Start doesn’t meet on Fridays) Longer program: 10 a.m. – 8 p.m. Community Fair and Art Workshop went all day

ALSC National Institute, , Ellen Fader 2000 Highlights High school students trained to do Library tours (every ½ hour) Community volunteers trained to read stories (noon, and every ½ hour from 4 p.m.) Many students performed/presented: storytelling; dance; puppet shows Professionals: clown (bilingual!); music; dance; storytelling (Carmen Bernier- Grand) Over 4,000 attended

ALSC National Institute, , Ellen Fader What happened in 2001 Still coordinated centrally by Spanish Outreach Specialist Expanded to 6 libraries Involved many more staff and community resources Reached over 6,300 participants Offered 29 cultural programs Lasts for month of April

ALSC National Institute, , Ellen Fader New in 2001 Paper flower and piñata making Photography workshop Bilingual play School choir Arts & Crafts Show College dancers

ALSC National Institute, , Ellen Fader Hooray!! Multnomah County Library wins the 2002 Estela and Raul Mora Award! Marcela Villagran is on FMLA with first child! At REFORMA Board meeting in ALA Midwinter/Philadelphia in January 2003, Ellen Fader accepts plaque and stipend!

ALSC National Institute, , Ellen Fader Día 2002 Ellen Fader (happily) no longer responsible for LIBROS. 6 branches now have dedicated bilingual LIBROS paraprofessional staff who provide programming, reference and outreach services. That leads to the biggest change: Each branch plans own Día – only professional programming and supply ordering are centrally coordinated.

ALSC National Institute, , Ellen Fader Local planning More responsive to neighborhoods Increased staff development opportunity Increased local ownership – staff, schools, and businesses Work for Spanish Outreach Specialist shifts to coordinating supplies, and liaison with Public Relations, which books professional programmers, designs local flyers, and promotes month-long event

ALSC National Institute, , Ellen Fader Local planning Need to have role clarity and decision- making authority clearly delegated –Color of logo and paper –Systemwide Web site and flyers? Local flyers? Templates? Design? –Style guides? –Translation –Promotion – local or systemwide? –Who is main contact for questions & media appearances?

ALSC National Institute, , Ellen Fader More hard decisions Who… –documents (photos, videos) each event? –previews & selects professional and local talent? –solicits community groups’ participation? Varied project management, budgeting and evaluation skills

ALSC National Institute, , Ellen Fader Feedback ESL WIC clients confused about one branches’ Spanish/English flyer promoting Día for all bilingual children Bilingual staff confused: who is really in charge at branches?

ALSC National Institute, , Ellen Fader Now it is 2006 LIBROS has expanded to 8 branches LIBROS has new manager Stated mission: “…an event directed toward the Latino commuity of Multnomah County. It is intended to celebrate children and their culture and language, bilingual literacy and the magic of books.”

ALSC National Institute, , Ellen Fader Future literacy focus How can we make the event more literacy-based and make it reflect the theme “children and bilingual literacy?” Defined “literacy-related activity:” One wherein language, words, stories, or letters are primary elements Analyzed all 2006 activities & giveaways for literacy focus

ALSC National Institute, , Ellen Fader Examples literacy-related activities Examples literacy-related activities Storytelling Book-making Writing Reading aloud Singing songs Cutting out letters Using letter stamps Activities emphasizing dialogue May focus on textual elements –Shapes –Colors –Numbers

ALSC National Institute, , Ellen Fader Not literacy-related, but still valuable These strengthen community and family ties, are fun, enhance cultural literacy, stimulate discussion –Making crafts, such as paper flowers –Face painting –Instrumental music

ALSC National Institute, , Ellen Fader FYI: 2006 Budget Programming$6,159 Rentals$1,976 Printing (partial)$1,302 Other $1,350 –Llama –Artist for craft program –Performers in schools Total budget (partial)$10,787

ALSC National Institute, , Ellen Fader

2007? Directed toward Spanish-speaking community Provides a majority of programming, crafts, events, and activities that are designed to promote bilingual literacy Adheres to a single system-wide marketing presentation of the celebration as guided by Public Relations with input from LIBROS work group

ALSC National Institute, , Ellen Fader 2007 specifics Continue to implement new meeting room guidelines Three-hour limit of celebrations (started in 2005) $15,000 programming, print & supply budget for 8 locations Roles & responsibilities clarified with PR & LIBROS

ALSC National Institute, , Ellen Fader Why is Día so important? Community focus Volunteer involvement Public (parents, educators, agencies) loves it Brings people together Staff learns new skills Gets media attention Donors LITERACY!