Washington library celebrates día de los niños

WASHINGTON — Patrons at the Washington Public Library celebrated El día de los niños/El día de los libros (Day of the child/Day of the book) on Saturday, complete with a bilingual story time, piñatas, popcorn, and all sorts of activities. The annual holiday is widely popular and Mexico where it is observed on April 30, but has never been largely celebrated in Washington.

The holiday is also recognized by the American Library Association, which says the celebration, “Emphasizes the importance of literacy for children of all linguistic and cultural backgrounds.”

Saturday’s festivities in Washington were organized by library staff and members of nonprofit group Latinos for Washington, whose president, Sonia Leyva, said it was a success.

“They do a big celebration in Mexico of día de los niños, and we really don’t have anything like that here in the United States, so we just put it together,” Leyva said. “All the kids seemed to like it, it was just so fun.”

The organizers said they hoped to make the celebration an annual affair, with repeat programming in future years.

Leyva said it was an eye-opening occasion for kids.

“It’s good to celebrate different cultures, and what different cultures do,” she said. “That’s what makes it beautiful, to show our younger generations that, ‘Hey, it’s OK that we’re all different, but we can still embrace that and enjoy it together,’ … and I think it’s something we need to start young, learning that people speak different languages and people look differently, people celebrate differently.”

Library Director Cary Ann Siegfried said día de los niños was a major event at her previous workplace in Texas, and that she was glad to see it growing in popularity.

“It has spread to more libraries in Texas and New Mexico and in the Southwest, it became just kind of an annual thing in the late ‘90s,” she said. “But little by little, it’s spread throughout the country. And so I would guess, in pretty much every state, there are libraries that do this celebration.”

Despite colder-than-ideal weather, Siegfried said the event drew roughly 25-30 people.

She said that made it a success, but one the library could expand on in future years.

“We were happy with it, the families who came just had a wonderful time,” Siegfried said. “I think it’s something we can grow on and I think it’s something that will be an annual occurrence.”

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