ALSC awards mini-grants to 15 libraries to start Día Family Book Clubs

CHICAGO - The Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC) has awarded 15 libraries mini-grants to start their own Día Family Book Club. These clubs will utilize multi-cultural, multi-lingual or second language books to provide an opportunity for families in  their 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: Baldwin Boettcher Branch – Harris County Public Library (Texas), Baraboo Public Library (Wis.), Beale Memorial Library- Kern County Library (Calif.), Blake Library - Martin County Library System (Fla.), City of Port Isabel Public Library (Texas), Henderson Libraries (Nev.), Hilton Branch of the Maplewood Public Library (N.J.), Maricopa Public Library (Ariz.), Newburgh Free Library (N.Y.), Niagara Branch Library - Buffalo & Erie County Public Library (N.Y.), North Plainfield Library (N.J.), Orange County Library System - Southeast Branch (Fla.), Patterson Library (Calif.), Smyrna Public Library (Ga.), and Waukegan Public Library (Ill.).

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 15 mini-grants to libraries to initiate a Día Family Book Club Program. ALSC will also make available Book Club lesson plans and additional resources for free download through the Día website to encourage libraries throughout the country to participate in the Día Family Book Club program.

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 Día’s 18th anniversary, culminating on April 30, 2014: Día: 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 Dollar General Corporation
Dollar General Corporation has been delivering value to shoppers for nearly 75 years. Dollar General helps shoppers Save time. Save money. Every day!® by offering products that are frequently used and replenished, such as food, snacks, health and beauty aids, cleaning supplies, basic apparel, house wares and seasonal items at low everyday prices in convenient neighborhood locations. With more than 11,000 stores in 40 states, Dollar General has more retail locations than any retailer in America. In addition to high quality private brands, Dollar General sells products from America's most-trusted manufacturers such as Procter & Gamble, Kimberly-Clark, Unilever, Kellogg's, General Mills, Nabisco, Hanes, PepsiCo and Coca-Cola. Learn more about Dollar General at www.dollargeneral.com.