2019 Noche de Cuentos Mini-Grants Report: Siouxland Libraries - Oak View Branch

Journey through Memories / Viaje a través de los recuerdos

Program and Attendance

• 17 people (seven children and ten adults) attended Journey through Memories/Viaje a través de los recuerdos.
• Presenters created a book with stories from their country. They shared their stories on how they or their families came to be in Sioux Falls, SD. Then they gave a little background on the stories from their country and read them. Afterward, everyone enjoyed refreshments.
• Presenters wrote stories in English and Spanish, and the artwork featured the countries’ flags. These books were given to attendees at no charge.
• Because the speakers from Puerto Rico and Honduras were unable to attend, the presenters added extra stories from Guatemala.
• Promotion included a news release, posters, social media, and the library website. Presenters distributed the posters in Spanish-speaking locations around town, told friends and family, and talked with Caminando Juntos. The Spanish-immersion school, Washington High School, and other teachers promoted it.

Results

• We successfully made community connections, and the presenters appreciated being asked to share their stories.
• Library staff invited people currently in the library to join the program, and five people did. One of these attendees was new to Sioux Falls. She was from Juarez, Mexico, and had just moved here with her husband from Minnesota. After the readings, she connected with new people in the audience. Another family must have been from Guatemala, because when the speaker said that was her family’s home country, the children were very excited.
• One audience member was a high school English Language Learning teacher who asked Siouxland Libraries to repeat the program for her class. This is an exciting opportunity, and the extra booklets will be used for that program.
• Another woman asked librarians to do more programs like this in the future. She was working on a play about immigration starring immigrants.
• One family in attendance checked out Spanish Language items because of this program. They did not know about that the library had Spanish Language materials prior to attending.

Event coordinator and presenters: Emily Harris, Monica Meledez, and Josie Rodriguez​

Booklets