Dear Mora Award Winners,

I hope that you all enjoyed a healthy and happy Thanksgiving. We have much to be thankful for including knowing bookjoy, don't we?

As the year ends, I'm writing to welcome Tina Bixby, the newest member of this special group of D�a leaders, each representing your winning library. Like many of you, Tina credits her fine team at the Lynden Public Library (WA) with their success in winning the 2012 Mora Award (MA). I think you'll find their interview as inspiring as I did, a great example of community D�a collaboration. Here's the interview link: http://sharebookjoy.blogspot.com/2012/10/interview-with-2012-mora-award-winner.html.

You may also have read on my blog that thanks to educators Kay and Dan Moore, for the first time this year, we awarded three Mora Honor Awards to: Mt. Pleasant, part of DC Public Library, Sacramento Public Library, and King County Library System (WA).

(http://sharebookjoy.blogspot.com/2012/11/first-year-of-estela-raul-mora-honor.html)

We are all too busy and yet, all committed to D�a. It hasn't begun to reach its potential as a family literacy initiative that links all children to books, languages and cultures. Why? Not enough libraries, schools, higher institutions and community organizations such as youth-serving groups, museums, etc. know about D�a and plan at least an annual April celebration. This won't change without your help. Consider collaborating in this national outreach work.

I view you as D�a leaders in your community, state, region and nationally. Individually or in groups, volunteer to present D�a sessions at conferences, advocate for it with your city and state librarians, in all ALA's youth and family-serving divisions, and in the greater literacy and educational community. Mentor other librarians, and as Tina and her team showed us, involve parents and family members as our partners in promoting literacy.

Use this link to access a pdf of the updated list of Mora Award Winners. Please check your library's entry and confirm that you are the official contact for your library, designated and supported by the director. Send an email confirmation to Laurina Cashin, (lcashin@patmora.com) including any changes if necessary. Continue to be a vocal and enthusiastic D�a advocate within your library or libraries and insure that the D�a section of your library site is updated annually at least.  For the Mora Award section of my site to be an effective resource, visitors need your D�a page(s). Please check your link at http://www.patmora.com/dia.htm. 

I'm copying Laurina Cashin, my project assistant on all things D�a and my blog manager. I'm also copying Lupita Vega, the new chair of the Mora Award committee. We all welcome your ideas.

Thanks for sharing bookjoy!

Pat