ALSC announces winners of El dia de los ninos/El dia de los libros Family Book Club mini-grants

For Immediate Release
Thu, 02/21/2013

Contact:

Joanna Ison

Program Officer - Projects and Partnerships

Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC)

1-800-545-2433 ext. 1398

jison@ala.org

CHICAGO - The Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC) is announcing the winners of the El dia de los ninos/El dia de los libros Family Book Club mini-grants. Twelve libraries were chosen to receive $5,000 each to offer a Dia Family Book Club.  These clubs will utilize multi-cultural, multi-lingual or second language books to provide an opportunity for the community to come together.  The mini-grants are part of ALSC’s Everyone Reads @ your library grant, generously funded by the Dollar General Literacy Foundation.

The winning libraries are: Chicago Public Library-Theodore Roosevelt Branch; The Urbana Free Library; Montgomery County-Norristown Public Library; Springdale Public Library; North Miami Public Library; Irving Public Library, East Branch; Gail Borden Public Library District; Orlando Public Library - Orange County Library System; Finkelstein Memorial Library; Lancaster Public Library; Palmdale City Library; and Joliet Public Library.

The purpose of the Everyone Reads @ your library grant is for ALSC to prepare libraries to incorporate Día into their existing programs, every day of the year. To help meet this goal, ALSC will provide 12 mini-grants to libraries to initiate a Día Family Book Club Program. ALSC will also develop a Día Family Book Club Toolkit to support the mini-grant awarded libraries, as well as libraries across the nation, in the successful execution of a Día Family Book Club.

El día de los ninos/El día de los libros (Children’s Day/Book Day) is a nationally recognized initiative that emphasizes the importance of literacy for all children from all backgrounds. It is a daily commitment to linking children and their families to diverse books, languages and cultures.   Día was founded in 1996 by children’s book author Pat Mora, who proposed conceptually linking the existing Children’s Day with literacy. 

The founding partner of Día is REFORMA, the National Association to Promote Literacy and Information Services to Latinos and the Spanish-Speaking.

The mini-grants are part of the activities leading up to Dia’s 17th anniversary, culminating on April 30, 2013:  Dia: Diversity in Action.   For more information, visit http://dia.ala.org.

 

About ALSC

ALSC, a division of the ALA, is the world’s largest organization dedicated to the support and enhancement of library service to children. With a network of more than 4,000 children’s and youth librarians, literature experts, publishers and educational faculty, ALSC is committed to creating a better future for children through libraries. To learn more about ALSC visit www.ala.org/alsc.

 

About REFORMA

Established in 1971 as an affiliate of the American Library Association (ALA), REFORMA, has actively sought to promote the development of library collections to include Spanish-language and Latino oriented materials; the recruitment of more bilingual and bicultural library professionals and support staff;  the development of library services and programs that meet the needs of the Latino community;  the establishment of a national information and support network among individuals who share their goals;  the education of the U.S. Latino population in regards to availability and types of library services;  and lobbying efforts to preserve existing library resource centers serving the interests of Latinos.

 

About Dollar General

Dollar General is a leading discount retailer that has been delivering value to shoppers for more than 70 years with over 10,000 stores in 40 states. Dollar General stores provide convenience and value to customers by offering national brand and private-brand merchandise such as food, snacks, health and beauty aids and cleaning supplies, as well as basic apparel, house wares and seasonal items at everyday low prices. The company has a longstanding tradition of supporting literacy and education. Since its inception in 1993, the Dollar General Literacy Foundation has awarded more than $74 million in grants to nonprofit organizations, helping more than 4.4 million individuals take their first steps toward literacy, a general education diploma or English proficiency.