University Library News Release
Date: April 17, 2009
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: Jeanette Smith, NMSU Library, (575) 646-7492, jcsmith@lib.nmsu.edu
Library Programs to Celebrate El día de los niños
The NMSU Library will celebrate El día de los niños/El día de los libros on Thursday, April 30, with two programs featuring presentations by award-winning Southwestern children's author and publisher Lee Byrd and illustrator Antonio Castro.
There will be a book talk for children from 9:30 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. A program for adults, which will feature a discussion about bilingual children's literature and book publishing, will be held from 1:15 p.m. to 2:15 p.m. The free public programs will be on the second floor of Zuhl Library.
There will be a question and answer session following each presentation. A book signing will follow the afternoon program, with copies of The Treasure on Gold Street/ El Tesoro En La Calle Oro by Byrd available for purchase.
In 1985, with her husband, poet Bobby Byrd, Byrd founded Cinco Puntos Press, a publishing company named after their neighborhood in El Paso, Texas. Cinco Puntos, a publisher of non-fiction, fiction, poetry and children's literature, is recognized for bringing the multicultural literatures of the American Southwest, the U.S.-Mexico border region and Mexico to a national audience.
Castro has illustrated dozens of children's books including Barry, the Bravest Saint Bernard (Random House), Pajaro Verde, The Treasure on Gold Street, The Day It Snowed Tortillas and most recently, The Gum-Chewing Rattler (Cinco Puntos Press).
The programs, organized by Humanities Librarian Mardi Mahaffy and Education Librarian Sarah Baker, are part of the Library's annual celebration of the national El día de los niños/El día de los libros (Children's Day/Book Day). The programs are funded by a grant from NMSU's Southwest and Border Cultures Institute.
El día de los niños/El día de los libros was founded by Pat Mora in 1997. The day's purpose is to celebrate children, families, reading and multiculturalism.
For more information, contact Mahaffy at (575) 646-6925 or Baker at (575) 646-6087.
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