Santa Ana’s spotlight was on the children last weekend.
The 16th annual Día de los Niños, Día de los Libros celebration at the Santa Ana Public Library last Saturday provided residents with music, games and other entertainment in an effort to celebrate and promote the importance of literacy among children.
Editor’s note: This is an occasional series where Voice of OC works with local community photographers to offer residents a first-hand look at the local sites and scenes of Orange County.
Multiple city council members made an appearance at the event, including Mayor Pro Tem Thai Viet Phan, and Councilmembers David Penaloza, Johnathan Ryan Hernandez and Jessie Lopez. Joining them in welcoming citizens was Library Director Brian Sternberg.
“This event is really critical because it’s bringing families together in a time where the economy is straining our working families,” said Lopez. “It’s about promoting literacy and instilling that in our young minds.”
The event was created for the entertainment and engagement of the children of Santa Ana. This meant book giveaways, a story time of the bestselling book Grumpy Monkey by Suzanne and Max Lang, and other activities.
According to Santa Ana Public Affairs Information Officer Paul Eakins, “the event has significantly grown in scale and is the library’s largest event of the year.”
Among the thousands that enjoyed those activities is resident and father Guillermo Torrez.
“The event pushes the parents to get out for the day,” said Torrez. “I’m following the place on Instagram now so I can come back next year.”
The event, which started in 2009, was free to attend and included dance performances from Kids Imagine Nation, Freckle Frog Dance Studio and others.
Cathy Imai is the mother of two of the performers that performed on stage on Saturday for the Reverb Tap Company.
“Just being here right now I love to see everybody out,” said Imai, a La Palma native. “I’m not from this area and it looks like a really close community.
The Día de los Niños, Día de los Libros event comes in the context of low literacy rates in Orange County, specifically an estimated 1 in 4 adults that can’t read at higher than a basic level.
When asked about this, Councilmember Hernandez stated his belief that this event will serve to help future generations raise literacy rates.
“Libraries need to think outside the box with what they do beyond those four walls and I think this is a good example,” said Hernandez.
Esther Nunez, a library assistant technician who helped organize the event, provided background on the origins of Día de los Niños, Día de los Libros.
“Day of the Kids is a big tradition in Mexico,” said Nunez. “Our community is very hispanic and so we wanted to provide a community for those families.”
The tradition, which is now going on its 16th year, garnered support from the community and is anticipated to return next year.
