Activity Details
Title: Dia de los Ninos/Dia de los Libros
Narrative: El Día de los Niño’s/El Día de los Libros (Children’s Day/Book Day), known as Día, is a celebration of children, families, and reading that culminates every year on April 30. Día honors children’s language and culture, encourages reading and literacy, and promotes library collections and programs that reflect the country’s changing populations. The Idaho Commission for Libraries (ICfL) helps libraries engage and serve their local families by supporting these celebrations. This grant year, ICfL transitioned the Día family engagement activity into a grant-funded activity. This was determined to be the best approach for this activity as each library who offered Día needed to be able to customize the materials, activity, and event to meet needs in their own community. For example, ICfL could not purchase English-Spanish bilingual books for this activity as some communities have very few Spanish-speaking patrons but do have Arabic speaking or American Indian tribal members in their communities who would need different materials to support their event. In other words, there was no “one-size, fits all” material or curriculum that ICfL could provide to enable these diverse Día celebrations to be a success. Therefore, ICfL awarded 13 grants, each for $400, in support of Día celebrations at both public (10) and school libraries (3) across the state. Participating libraries were required to work with at least one local partner to host a Día event and work to reach out to families who might not be regular library users. During this grant period, participating libraries hosted local Día events and served 3,361 children, an increase from 2,450 served the prior year. Each participating library designed an event unique to their community’s needs, promoted and implement the celebration, and submitted follow-up evaluations. In addition to the grant funds, the ICfL provided some activity resources/examples for Día events and directed libraries to the nationally-developed Día handbooks via our website.
Each library created or enhanced existing community events which best fit the needs of the children and families in their service area. Some of the types of Día activities offered this grant period included:
• Bilingual music and movement classes
• Children’s Day Celebration for all ages
• Parent presentations on the five early literacy practices, literacy kits, dialogic reading and interactive play information shared in bilingual format
• Songs, stories, dance performances, crafts and demonstrations of traditional food and art
• Book walks, book bingo, book scavenger hunts, and book festivals featuring folktales from around the world
• STEM activity stations and arts, crafts, and literacy stations
• Library card promotion, library program sharing, bilingual materials and promotional flyers, ELL/ESL teacher collaboration, and community partner coordination
Examples of activity impact from this grant period include:
• [As a result of this activity], we had one of the leaders of the Latinos in Action High School group come and talk to us about trying a Spanish storytime led by the high schoolers in the group during the summer. Our first storytime will be this Friday...We will also be partnering with the Latinos in Action group for other projects during the school year. That group is also helping us at the park during the summer reading.”
• “We celebrated children, family and reading and connected them to the world of learning through books, stories and libraries. We also shared the importance of daily family reading. We offered a cultural event that is not usually experienced in this area…”
• “The event brought the whole community together. The students felt pride in being able to perform for their families. The families had a shared cultural and literary experience and were able to take what they learned home. The families received tools they needed to work on the five basic literacy skills at home with their students…”
Intent: Improve users' general knowledge and skills.
Activity: Instruction
Mode: Presentation/performance
Format: In-person
Quantity
Presentation/performance length (minutes): 90
Number of presentations/performances administered: 13
Average number in attendance per session: 250
Partner Information
Organization Type of Partner Organization(s):
Libraries: Yes
Historical Societies or Organizations: No
Museums: No
Archives: No
Cultural Heritage Organization Multi-type: No
Preschools: No
Schools: No
Adult Education: No
Human Service Organizations: No
Other: No
Legal Type of Partner Organization(s):
Federal Government: No
State Government: No
Local Government (excluding school districts): No
School District: No
Non-Profit: No
Private Sector: No
Tribe/Native Hawaiian Organization: No
Beneficiaries
Is the activity directed at the library workforce: No
For a targeted group or for the general population: Targeted
Geographic community of the targeted group: Urban
Suburban
Rural
For what age groups: 0-5 years
6-12 years
For what economic types: Economic Not Applicable
For what ethnicity types: Ethnicity Not Applicable
Is the activity directed at families: Yes
Is the activity directed at intergenerational groups: No
Is the activity directed at immigrants/refugees: No
Is the activity directed at those with disabilities: No
Limited functional literacy or informational skills: No
Is the activity category not already captured: Yes: The Día presentations were aimed at youth in grades K-6 and their families/caregivers.
Locale
Is the activity state-wide: No
Specific Locations: Yes
Name: Ada Community Library
Address: 10664 W. Victory Rd
City: Boise
State: ID
Zip: 83709
Name: BUHL PUBLIC
Address: 215 BROADWAY N
City: BUHL
State: ID
Zip: 83316
Name: CALDWELL PUBLIC
Address: 1010 DEARBORN ST
City: CALDWELL
State: ID
Zip: 83605
Name: FREMONT COUNTY DISTRICT
Address: 925 MAIN
City: ASHTON
State: ID
Zip: 83420
Name: GOODING PUBLIC
Address: 306 FIFTH AVE W
City: GOODING
State: ID
Zip: 83330
Name: HAILEY PUBLIC
Address: 7 W CROY ST
City: HAILEY
State: ID
Zip: 83333
Name: Hemingway STEAM School
Address: PO Box 1189
City: Ketchum
State: ID
Zip: 83340
Name: Jefferson Joint School District #251
Address: 3850 East 300 North
City: Rigby
State: ID
Zip: 83442
Name: MERIDIAN DISTRICT
Address: 1326 W CHERRY LN
City: MERIDIAN
State: ID
Zip: 83642
Name: MIDDLETON PUBLIC
Address: 307 CORNELL STREET
City: MIDDLETON
State: ID
Zip: 83644
Name: MOUNTAIN HOME PUBLIC
Address: 790 N 10TH E
City: MOUNTAIN HOME
State: ID
Zip: 83647
Name: NAMPA PUBLIC
Address: 101 11TH AVE S
City: NAMPA
State: ID
Zip: 83651
Activity Details
Title: Idaho Family Reading Week
Narrative: For the past 22 years, ICfL staff have provided resources to help public and school libraries celebrate Idaho Family Reading Week (FRW) and emphasize the importance of family reading. This event aims to draw new, underserved families into libraries, ensure they feel welcome in this third space, and encourage registration for library cards. Libraries help these activity participants become aware of all the free, educational resources libraries have to offer families and their children. This program year, with the theme “Find It At Your Library,” support materials and activities focused on the importance of nonfiction and the library as a trusted source of all kinds of information. Libraries received 12,000 themed hardcover and paperback books to use in their programming along with a list of recommended new nonfiction titles, storytime outlines, and a “Find It” scavenger hunt activity. One of the hardcover books included was Idaho’s 2018 National Book Festival title “Beauty and the Beak,” the true tale of Beauty the Bald Eagle who received a 3D-printed, prosthetic beak with the help of an Idaho raptor biologist. (Learn more: https://stem.idaho.gov/resources-portals/beautysbeak/). As part of the project activities, all public and school libraries in Idaho were prompted to download the 3D design for Beauty’s beak, incorporating STEM education into FRW events. In addition, parent handouts on family reading, early literacy skills, “Talking is Teaching” handouts, FRW artwork, and other resources were provided by the Commission to ensure libraries achieved success. Overall, 101 Idaho libraries registered their Idaho Family Reading Week events – 58 public libraries and 43 school libraries. This represented project capacity as the budget for Family Reading Week was actually capped at 100 Idaho libraries. (Please note: Additional Idaho libraries held FRW events utilizing our free, downloadable resources, or materials of their own design, but without the additional hardcover and paperback books and these were not tracked.) A total of 17,988 individuals (children and parents/grandparents) from approximately 4,938 families were reported to have attended Idaho Family Reading Week events throughout the state during FRW this grant period. Participating libraries issued 65 new library cards during these events and distributed 12,400 books to participating children/families. A list of participating libraries is included in the additional materials of this project report.
Each library created or added onto existing community events which best fit the needs of the children and families in their service area. Some of the types of FRW activities offered this grant period included:
• Reading rallies, special guest readers/storytimes, dinner and a book, outdoors story walk/story garden, scavenger hunts to help families become more familiar with the library, community reads and family reading forts.
• Fine Free Week/fine forgiveness and library card sign-up promotion
• Find It, Make It, Build It, Play It activity stations
• A “live” Skype visit with Beauty the Bald Eagle and Janie Veltkamp, Raptor Biologist with Birds of Prey Northwest
Libraries tapped into unique and foundational community partners to implement FRW events:
• Idaho Fish and Game, Birds of Prey of the Northwest, Family Literacy Specialists at local elementary schools, Head Starts and Early Head Starts, All-Star Preschools, School District Transportation Departments, 21st Century Community Learning Centers, and County Reading Associations.
Through our activity evaluation, we heard the following encouraging feedback from our participating libraries:
• “I don't know that I could have pulled this event together without the help from the Institute of Museum and Library Services AND Idaho Commission for Libraries. Having a good selection of books to read…was really the 'big win' of this event. Also, I utilized the links provided by ICfL for literacy handouts for the parents and this was very helpful to have, as it reduced the 'work' that I had to do to put it together. We're a small rural library in an underserved community and our resources for event planning are limited. Thank you so much everyone for your support! Like I said, this program lands in our laps ready to promote!”
• “It helps us to get new families to come into the library and get them to return once they have had an enjoyable time here. Through this program we were able to talk with families (some of whom were new to the library) about all of the early literacy resources our library provides. The take home books were a huge hit! I really appreciated the pre-planned storytimes with an early literacy tip woven in.”
• “The materials provided help to get more books into the hands of children and families. It also builds better community support to have activities like this.”
Intent: Improve users' general knowledge and skills.
Activity: Content
Mode: Acquisition
Format: Physical
Quantity
Number of hardware acquired: 0
Number of software acquired: 0
Number of licensed databases acquired: 0
Number of print materials (books & government documents) acquired: 12,400
Number of electronic materials acquired: 0
Number of audio/visual units (audio discs, talking books, other recordings) acquired: 0
Partner Information
Organization Type of Partner Organization(s):
Libraries: No
Historical Societies or Organizations: No
Museums: No
Archives: No
Cultural Heritage Organization Multi-type: No
Preschools: No
Schools: No
Adult Education: No
Human Service Organizations: No
Other: No
Legal Type of Partner Organization(s):
Federal Government: No
State Government: No
Local Government (excluding school districts): No
School District: No
Non-Profit: No
Private Sector: No
Tribe/Native Hawaiian Organization: No
Beneficiaries
Is the activity directed at the library workforce: Yes
For a targeted group or for the general population: General
Locale
Is the activity state-wide: Yes
Specific Locations: No
Library Types
Public Libraries: 58
Academic Libraries: 0
SLAA: 0
Consortia: 0
Special Libraries: 0
School Libraries: 43
Other: 0
Question 1: I am satisfied that the resource is meeting library needs.
Strongly Agree: 65
Agree: 33
Neither Agree nor Disagree: 2
Disagree: 1
Strongly Disagree: 0
Non-Response: 0
Question 2: Applying the resource will help improve library services to the public.
Strongly Agree: 62
Agree: 35
Neither Agree nor Disagree: 3
Disagree: 1
Strongly Disagree: 0
Non-Response: 0
