El día de los niños/
El día de los libros
(Children's Day/Book Day)

Fact Sheet

The Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC), a division of the American Library Association (ALA), is the national center for the El día de los niños/El día de los libros (Children's Day/Book Day) celebration, known as "Día." Día brings together children, books, languages and cultures. It is both a daily commitment and an annual celebration, on April 30, of the joys and wonders of childhood and the importance of family literacy. Día’s vision is to spread “bookjoy” every day by linking children from all languages and cultures with books, and celebrating together across the country on April 30. Its goals are to honor children, their languages and culture; to encourage reading and literacy; and to promote library collections and programs that reflect our plurality.

El día de los niños/El día de los libros is an enhancement of Children’s Day, which began in 1925 as a result of the first “World Conference for the Well Being of Children” in Geneva, Switzerland. Children’s Day was designated as a day to bring attention to the importance and well being of children. It was then designated by the United Nations for November 20, by UNICEF for April 23 and by Mexico for April 30 (Día del Niño), to name a few. In 1996, Pat Mora, nationally acclaimed author of books for children and adults, proposed linking the celebration of childhood and children with literacy. Her proposal was endorsed by REFORMA, the National Association to Promote Library and Information Services to Latinos and the Spanish-Speaking in 1997. Subsequently, the National Association of Bilingual Education (NABE) and the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) endorsed the observance.

The W.K. Kellogg Foundation has awarded a series of grants to ALSC to promote the Día concept nationally to children and their parents. In 2007, Target became the first official national sponsor of Día. Please visit http://www.ala.org/dia for more information, including downloadable resources.

The Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC) develops and supports the profession of children's librarianship by enabling and encouraging its practitioners to provide the best library service to our nation's children. ALSC provides leadership to the profession and public on behalf of high quality library services for youth. To these ends, the ALSC mission expands on the vision and mission of Día.

updated 4/07

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