Herrick District Library would like to introduce a new storytime event, Bilingual Storytime. This event is made up of all the best parts of storytime: singing, dancing, and reading with friends. The twist is that this storytime is in two languages instead of one.
Bilingual Storytime is run by Youth Librarian, Nikki, and Library Assistant, Vanessa, to give children and families a welcoming space to learn and experience literacy in an engaging way.
The goal of Bilingual Storytime is to reflect the community and the different demographics of the speakers. The library wants to create a space for a Spanish-speaking community, whether this is their first or second language, and what the motive is to learn with other members of the community. Herrick District Library strives to be inclusive and promote biliteracy at a young age because it teaches inclusivity and diversity to children, so they can understand the importance of being part of a welcoming community.
Bilingual Storytime takes place on Monday mornings as part of the storytime rotation. Bilingual Storytime took place for the first time on Monday, September 14th, and received an overwhelming amount of praise and positive feedback.
Vanessa and Nikki said that their favorite part about this new storytime event is getting to combine their departments and work together on something so uplifting and inclusive at the library. Vanessa also mentioned that singing and dancing with a bunch of families and friends is a great way to start your day, and to teach them about something that is really important.
The first book read was The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carl, but the next storytime will not be a translated text. The goal is to introduce a book that was written and published in Spanish to give families and children the opportunity to interact directly with the language. Another goal of storytime is to primarily focus on using Spanish with a little bit of English. Therefore, the bilingual aspect of the program is not a 50/50 split of Spanish and English. To stay true to the bilingual aspect of the storytime, Vanessa and Nikki use English primarily to help new speakers understand the context of what is communicated in Spanish.
Herrick District Library hopes that families are able to grow through this program and take away the benefits of biliteracy while connecting with people in the community. If you would like at home or library resources to help with biliteracy for children and families, the Herrick District Library has a bunch of options to help at-home practice. Some of these materials include bilingual books and bilingual audiobooks, Discovery Packs in multiple languages, and family DVDs.
If you or someone you know would like to drop into the children’s Bilingual Storytime, their upcoming events are on September 28, October 26, and November 9, which are Monday mornings in the Children’s Department.
