HISTORY OF CHILDREN’S DAY

• Children’ s Day grew out of the Geneva Declaration adopted on September 26, 1924 by the League of Nations

• Purpose: to bring attention to the needs ofthe children of the world

• The Geneva Declaration urged that one day out of the year be dedicated to the right of a child to

Physical Development ٭Mental Development ٭Educational development ٭ Play ٭

Source: Inter-American Children’s Institute

http:www.iin.oea.org

• August 1924 - 54 representatives from different countries gather in Geneva, Switzerland.

• Passed “Geneva Declaration Protecting Children" • The proclamation made a strong appeal for :

– Relief for children in poverty– Prevention of child labor– Reassessing the way that children are educated– Other issues related to the welfare of children around the world.

Source: Government Information Office-Republic of China-Taiwan

HISTORICAL CONTEXT1ST World Conference for Well-being of Children

Geneva Declaration

• The Declaration of the Rights of the Child is attributed to Eglantine Jeff, founder of the International Union for the Well-being of the Child and the British Trust.

• La señorita Eglantine Jeff, fundadora de la Unión Internacional para el Bienestar del Niño y de la Caja Británica de Ayuda al Niño, se debe la Declaracion de los derechos del nino conocida también como la "Declaración de Ginebra."

Historical Context for El día de los niños in Mexico

• Mexico is one of one hundred countries who originally established Children’s Day.

• Obregón hires José Vasconcelos as minister of education. Vasconcelos establishes rural schools and works to persuade the Mexican people of the importance of education to raise the literacy rate.

• Vasconcelos invites Gabriela Mistral to come to Mexico to reform the educational system and to establish rural schools AND free public libraries. Mistral stays in Mexico two years- Between 1922 -1924.

• Mexican President Álvaro Obregón establishes April 30th as El día de los niños in 1924 as a way to celebrate the child in Mexico.

• •

Early History of Children’s Day

Celebrations in the United States

• The City of San Francisco is among the first of U.S. cities to declare Children’s Day. The event was held on May 5, 1925 and is attributed to the Chinese Consul General Wang Yunxiang who gathered 60 former Chinese orphans and their families to celebrate one of China’s most popular holiday.

Pre-Children’s Day Expression: Children’s Book Week

• Established in 1920 by Children’s Book Council Purpose:

• To celebrate the written word• Introduce young people to new authors and

ideas in schools, libraries, homes and bookstores.

• To encourage young people and their caregivers to discover the complexity of the world beyond their own experience through books.

OAS and UNICEF

• The Organization of American States

(OAS) and UNICEF draft the Declaration of Universal Principals of the Rights of the Child on April 12, 1952 to bring attention to the inequality and mal-treatment of the children of the world

• Urge each country to establish an annual day to celebrate children

Source: www.bolivia.com

UNIVERSAL CHILDREN’S DAY

• By resolution 836 (IX) of 14 December 1954, the General Assembly recommended that all countries institute a Universal Children's Day, to be observed as a day of worldwide fraternity and understanding between children.

• Day of activity devoted to promoting the ideals and objectives of the Charter and the welfare of the children of the world.

• The Assembly suggested to governments that the Day be observed on the date and in the way which each considers appropriate. (http://www.un.org/Depts/dhl/children_day/)

CHILDREN’S DAY NOV.20TH

• Declaration of the Rights of the Child

Proclaimed by General Assembly

resolution 1386(XIV) of 20

November 1959

(Source: Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights)

1989 Convention on the Rights of the Child

• Universally agreed set of non-negotiablestandards and obligations

• Basic standards for human rights set minimum entitlements and freedoms that should be respected by governments

• Founded on respect for the dignity and worth of each individual, regardless of race, colour, gender, language, religion, opinions, origins, wealth, birth status or ability

• Apply to every human being everywhere.

WORLD SUMMIT FOR CHILDREN

• September 29-30 1990 • Sponsored by United Nations • Led by 71 heads of State and Government • 88 other senior officials, mostly at the ministerial

level• Adopted a Declaration on the Survival, Protection

and Development of Children• Developed a Plan of Action for implementing the

Declaration in the 1990s

U.N. General Assembly on Children presidents, kings, crown princes, prime ministers,

ministers and other senior officials, as well as children and young people, from 189 countries

OUTCOME: International agreement on protecting and promoting children's rights, called A World Fit for Children. 

A World Fit For ChildrenU.N. Special Session

May 2002New York

Día Celebration in The United States

The idea for El día de los niños/El día de los libros was conceived in 1996 in the United States by children’s author Pat Mora as a way to celebrate children, books and culture.

Historical Context for Día in the U.S. A REFORMA PERSPECTIVE

• To address low literacy rates of Latino and poor children in the United States

• To provide children and families access to books and entré to the library

• To address inequities in library services to Latino and other children and families of poverty

Día Presence at ALA

• REFORMA - National Association to Promote Library and Information Services to Latinos and the Spanish Speaking- an ALA Affiliate- votes to promote Día in 1997.

• 2002-ALSC votes to support Dia as an initiative

• 2005- ALSC becomes Official ‘Home’ of El día de los niños/El día de los libros

• Dia celebrates tenth anniversary with celebrations at ALA Mid-winter in San Antonio, Texas and at ALA Annual in New Orleans, La.

• Fifty+ librarians gather in Pittsburg, Pa. for a National Institute to strategize ways to engage their communities in Día Partnerships

Other Children’s Day Celebrations Throughout Latin American

• Argentina- Second Sunday in August

• Brazil- October 12th

• Chile- Second Sunday in August

• Colombia- Last Saturday of April

• Paraguay- May 31st

• Perú- Third Sunday in August

• Uruguay - August 9th

• Venezuela- 3rd Sunday in June

Celebrating Our Multiculturalismthrough Día

• 兒 童 節 / 圖 書 日 (Chinese)

• Ngày Nhi-đồng/Ngày Thư-viện (Vietnamese)

• Le Jour des Enfantes/Le Jour de les Livres (French)

• Kinderstag/Der Tag der Bücher (German)

• La Festa dei bambini/La Festa dei libri (Italian)

• Детский день / книжный день (Russian)

DÍA GOALS TODAY

• To honor Children and their Childhood

• To Promote literacy and the importance of linking all children to books, languages and cultures

• To honor a child’s home language and culture

• To Promote bilingual and multilingual literacy in a multicultural society

DÍA GOALS TODAY

• To Promote Books and Reading among Families and Communities

• To connect the Public and School library to Families and to the Community

• To promote books and stories that reflect our plurality

• To promote global understanding through library collections that reflect our plurality

TO BE CONTINUED………..

• TO BE CONTINUED………………

PART II

THE NATIONAL AND STATE PERSPECTIVES

LEADERSHIP OPPORTUNITIES

FOR YOU

National Presence

• Library Association Divisions and Affiliates ALA, PLA, REFORMA,CBCALA, AIA,

• National Latino Associations• National Council of La Raza-NCLR• MALDF• International Reading Association• National Education Association• NAEYC• Head Start

National Presence

• Children’s Defense Fund • Reach Out and Read• First Book • Web Presence• Colorín Colorado Reading Planet

Reading Rockets • RIF • Upcoming Opportunities: JCLA-October, 2006

• State Library Associations

• State Teachers’ Associations

• State Bilingual Educators’ Associations

• CABE/TABE/FABE?

• State NCLR Affiliates

DĺA STATES

Texas Florida California

STATE PRESENCE

Innovation at the State Level

• State-wide Steering/Planning Committee

through State Library or State Library Association

• REFORMA Chapters

• Spanish-speaking Round Table

• Other Partnerships Opportunities

• Planning Grant- LSTA

THE DELIVERABLES ProclamationsDía ManualWeb Site Mini-Grants to Generate State-wide ProgramsRecommended Reading ListsDĺA Programs @ State Association Meetings

MORE DELIVERABLES

• BOOK MARKS

• PUBLICITY

• Mini-grants for Multicultural Literature

• Mini-grants for Multicultural Programing

• Mini-grants for Diverse Authors

OUTCOMES

To Institutionalize Día

i.e.: To make Día a permanent part of what we do as librarians to reach out to the community

Día Provides Libraries Opportunities to:

• Celebrate cultures and traditions • Outreach to underserved populations• Develop strategies for increased library use

among traditionally under-utilized populations• Develop library collections that mirrors the

communities that they are/should be serving• Collaborate with other literacy-based

organizations

What is Culture? Shared Thought, Actions and Products…

Traditions

Norms

Customs

ArtsHistory

Folklore

Values

CHILD OUTCOME

A CONNECTED COMMUNITY

FAMILY Community

SCHOOL

CHILD

CHURCHSOCIAL

NETWORKS

PUBLICLIBRARY

Illustration by Raul Colón from Doña Flor: A Tall Tale about a Great Big Woman with a Big Heart. Random House/Knopf, 1995.

Oralia  Garza de Cortés  Early Literacy Consultant

Los Angeles Universal Preschool

750 N. Alameda Suite 200 Los Angeles, California 9001

213-416-1220 phone213-416- fax

Ocortes@laup.netOdgc@aol.comwww.laup.net

www.ala.org/dia