I wish we were meeting in person and that face-to-face I were expressing my gratitude for your commitment to D�a and how much your creative work inspires me. First, let me introduce our new D�a Dynamo, Merri Monks, Youth Services Consultant, Iowa Library Services/State Library of Iowa. You can imagine my surprise when this lovely woman came up to me at IBBY/USBBY in St. Louis and said, "I'm planning to promote D�a throughout the state of Iowa." She has been busy planning and has recruited some experienced Iowa librarians to assist with a webinar that she'll be sharing with her colleagues across the country. Hooray, Merri!
This is a year of change in D�a's life. As some of you know, I am again personally recruiting D�a partners. I'm hoping that each of you, understanding the two commitments necessary, will inspire your own state librarian to join us. If that has happened, please reach out to other states where you may have connections and also to school districts, publishers, universities, national youth-serving organizations, and the media (sample partner invitation.) Slow, incremental growth is not enough given the power and pleasure of bookjoy. Let's excite others to join us NOW.
You'll notice that one of our partners is First Book. Roxana Barillas, their Director of Hispanic Engagement, wants to reach out to you Dynamos in a special way and share a webinar about First Book as a resource for your D�a work. She will be writing you as a group in the near future.
I welcome your suggestions on how we can work together to share bookjoy. Again, I applaud your determination to inspire all our children and families to be proud of their cultures and languages, and to be enthusiastic readers.
Abrazos!
Pat
