Children reading at the Maplewood Library Hilton Branch
The Maplewood Library Hilton Branch recently received a $2,000 grant from the American Library Association, along with the Diversity in Action (DIA) initiative, to host bilingual book groups.
DIA was originally started as Dia de los Ninos and was oriented towards Hispanic populations, and it has now been expanded, said Jennifer Burkholder, Branch Manager & Children’s Librarian.
“We held six bilingual book clubs during the year,” said Burkholder, “two in Chinese, two in Spanish and two in Haitian/Creole. I had people run the programs who were fluent in the language and we read the bilingual books, talked about them, played games in both languages, and had snacks. Each child went home with the book and a game to play at home with the family.”
At each of the six meetings, roughly 6-10 children ranging in age from 6-16 and several parents attended. Titles included “Bobo the Sneaky Dog,” “Am I Small?” and “Maria Had a Little Llama.”
The grant provided the books, games and food, as well as 25-30 books to add to the library’s bilingual collection, said Burkholder.
