ALSC announces Building STEAM with Día mini-grant recipients

CHICAGO —The Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC) has awarded 10 mini-grants to bolster  the implementation of Building STEAM with Día programs in public libraries. These grants were funded by the Dollar General Literacy Foundation through a generous donation to ALSC. Día, also known as El día de los niños/El día de los libros (Children’s Day/Book Day), is celebrating its 20^th anniversary this year.  It is a nationally recognized initiative that emphasizes the importance of literacy for all children from all backgrounds. Día is a daily commitment to linking children and their families to diverse books, languages and cultures which culminates yearly on April 30.

Ensuring that children have access to science, technology, engineering, the arts and math content that incorporates diversity through the Building STEAM with Día mini-grants is one way that ALSC is encouraging libraries to celebrate Día’s 20^th.  ALSC also manages the National Día Program Registry to help libraries and community partners share information about their Día programs throughout the year. For more information about additional Día resources, visit http://dia.ala.org/.

The mini-grant recipients are: Beaumont Library District (California), Clifton Public Library (New Jersey), Dallas Public Library (Texas), Dayton Metro Library (Ohio), Glen Ellyn Public Library (Illinois), Keene Public Library (New Hampshire), Muskego Public Library (Wisconsin), North Shelby Library (Alabama), Providence Community Library (Rhode Island) and Riverside County Library (California).

“The Dollar General Literacy Foundation, through its support of Día, has helped ALSC grow the celebration of El día de los niños/El día de los libros (Children's Day/Book Day) from a daylong celebration of children and books to a yearlong sustained effort connecting children and families to diverse content, experiences and community partners,” said ALSC President Andrew Medlar. “By supporting library programs that recognize the interplay between language, culture and literacy, Dollar General Literacy Foundation has made a profound impact on the lives of children across the nation.”

The Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC) is the national home for Día. In 1996, Pat Mora, nationally acclaimed author of books for children and adults, proposed linking the celebration of childhood and children with literacy under the name El día de los niños/El día de los libros (Children’s Day/Book Day). Her proposal was later endorsed by Día Founding Partner REFORMA, the National Association to Promote Library and Information Services to Latinos and the Spanish-Speaking.

About ALSC

The Association for Library Service to Children is the world's largest organization dedicated to the support and enhancement of library service to children. ALSC's network includes more than 4,000 children's and youth librarians, children's literature experts, publishers, education and library school faculty members, and other adults dedicated to creating a better future for children through libraries.

About Dollar General
Dollar General Corporation has been delivering value to shoppers for over 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. Dollar General operates 12,198 stores in 43 states as of July 31, 2015. In addition to high quality private brands, Dollar General sells products from America’s most-trusted manufacturers such as Clorox, Energizer, Procter & Gamble, Hanes, Coca-Cola, Mars, Unilever, Nestle, Kimberly-Clark, Kellogg’s, General Mills, and PepsiCo. For more information on Dollar General, please visit www.dollargeneral.com.