Columbus: Spanish Storytimes, Inc. is partnering with The Ohio Children’s Foundation and Southwest Public Libraries to bring Spanish Storytimes (a.k.a. Cuéntame un cuento) to the Westland Area Library, 4740 W. Broad St; Columbus, OH 43228.  

The kick-off event on Dec. 8, 2007 will be followed by offerings on the first Saturday of each month from January - May 2008:  January 5^th, February 2^nd, March 1^st, April 1^st, and May 3^rd at 11:00am. 

With NO registration required, the programs feature stories, songs and other activities for children who speak Spanish and English.

Upper Arlington resident Cheryl Unzueta and her staff have been presenting Spanish Storytimes since 2002.

“I’m very excited about bringing Spanish Storytimes to the Southwestern community,” Unzueta said. “Our events are aimed at stimulating language diversity through children’s literature and activities. We do this in Spanish because of its prevalence in the community.”

Southwest Public Libraries held their first Spanish Storytimes this summer for an audience of Spanish-speaking and non-Spanish-speaking families with great success, said Unzueta. “The Spanish-speaking children were delighted to participate in literacy activities in their native tongue, while the non-Spanish-speakers were eager to soak in as
much of the language as they could in the 30 to 45 minute session.”

According to U.S. Census Bureau statistics from 1990 to 2000, the Latino population in the United States is up over 50%. In that same ten-year period, the increase in the Latino population was recorded at 163% in Franklin County and 230% in Delaware County. “Those figures indicate a growing trend,” said Unzueta, “and this demographic shift has enormous implications for changing community needs over the next generation.”

More information on Spanish Storytimes is available at: www.spanishstorytimes.com