Dia De Los Ninos 2014

Dia de los Ninos/Dia de los Libros (Children's Day/Book Day) is a nationally recognized initiative that emphasizes the importance of literacy and education for children of all backgrounds. The El Paso Public Library and Parks & Recreation have been hosting this event since 1997. This is the second year that the Dorris Van Doren Branch hosts a "mini Dia" event, and we had a great turnout!

We had about 2,000 in attendance and gave away over a thousand books to children and teens. Thanks for coming out to celebrate children and literacy!

Dia De Los Ninos 2013

Back in 1996, El Paso-born author Pat Mora, proposed to create a Children's Day event celebrating children, literacy and bilingualism. A year later, with the assistance of REFORMA (National Association to Promote Library & Information Services to Latinos & the Spanish-Speaking), a new holiday was created: El día de los niños/El día de los libros (Day of the children/Day of the books). El Paso, along with Austin, Sante Fe and Tucson, were the first American cities to host celebrations. Now, over 300 libraries across the nation are planning activities that promote literacy and diversity.

El Paso's 17th annual celebration of literacy and health, to be held this Saturday, is changing its venue from Washington Park to three locations. The Main Library, Esperanza Moreno Branch and Dorris Van Doren Branch will have their own Dia festivals where children can receive a free book and enjoy games, activities and live entertainment.

Each year, we hope to encourage children and parents to become more physically active and to read more. Studies show that reading is one of the most important activities in which a child can take part and is one of the primary variables in the academic and career success of young people.

Children will have the opportunity to sign up for Club Rec and library cards. All events will be free and open to the public. In addition, all bus rides for kids will be free to and from the event all day courtesy of Sun Metro. For more information visit call 543-5480.

Here's what the Dorris Van Doren Branch will have scheduled Saturday, April 27, from 12-4 pm:

• Free book distribution
• Games and crafts for kids throughout the day
• A Teen Hangout area
• Jumping balloon 
• Booths represented by various organizations featuring family history, a bubble station, face painting and more.

Entertainment:

• 12:00 pm FM Junkies Band
• 12:30 pm Western Hills Chinese Cultural Program
• 2:00 pm Combo #5 Band
• 3:00 pm Movie Matinee
• 3:00 pm Theatrical Performance – Excerpt from Midsummer Night’s Dream

...and while you're here, check out our spring and poetry month decorations!

Our intern, Lizzie painting the Poetree onto the window.

The Poetree

Happy Holidays!

The Dorris Van Doren staff wishes you the happiest of holidays! Come take pictures with our decorations and don't forget to visit  the beautiful family room, which has a fireplace. 

This year has gone way too fast, but we are excited to start a new year with the many changes that have already been taking place within our library system. We recently upgraded our system and are still trying to adapt to all of the changes. We really appreciate how patient you have been with us as we learn and deal with the glitches. If you haven't already, check out our shiny new website and online catalog. Be sure to update your bookmarked links, as they have changed with the upgrade.

Santa visited our library this past week, but you can still catch him at other locations. He'll be at the Westside Branch on 125 Belvidere on Tuesday, December 18 at 5:30 pm. To see the complete list of locations that Santa will be at, visit this page.

All libraries, including this branch, will be taking a holiday break from our Ready to Read programs (storytimes) beginning December 17 and ending January 7. Storytimes will resume on Tuesday, January 8, 2013. The Teen Hangout program on Thursday, December 27 will also take a break due to our holiday hours.

Holiday Hours:
December 24-25: Closed
December 26-29: 9 am-5 pm
December 30-31: Closed
January 1: Closed
January 2-5: 9 am-5 pm

Our storytime break and holiday hours don't mean you have to stop bringing your children to the library! We posted Ruben Castaneda's holiday literacy tips last year, and we liked them so much, we're re-posting them here.

Literacy Tips for the Holidays:

• Set aside a special reading time.

• While cooking for the holidays, let your child read the recipe and measure the ingredients.

• Read a book while the food is baking.

• Let your child write the gift tags.

• Have your child read to others.

• Give books as gifts to the children in your life.

Our branch manager made this cute little book tree.