New offerings for children and families at the Poetry Center
By Eric Swedlund, College of Humanities
The Poetry Center's new story-themed mural by local Chicana artist Adelynn Olea of Alleycat Murals welcomes Poetry Center visitors to the transformed children's area.
Logan Burtch-Buus/University Marketing and Communications
The U of A Poetry Center is expanding its efforts to connect local children and families with books and global storytelling, including those who may not normally find themselves on campus.
The "¡Cuentos del Mundo!" (Stories of the World) theme features classic folklore from around the world and aims to bring more families to the Poetry Center.
Logan Burtch-Buus/University Marketing and Communications
Through the new "¡Cuentos del Mundo!" (Stories of the World) theme, the center has transformed its children's area for the first time in five years and is adding new K-12 field trip offerings and a monthly bilingual story hour. The children's area includes a new story-themed mural by local Chicana artist Adelynn Olea of Alleycat Murals, new books in English and Spanish, braille titles and a rotating interactive exhibit.
The field trip offerings, available for 4th through 12th grade classes, are free and take place on Fridays. The center can accommodate about 10 field trips per semester.
The goals for "¡Cuentos del Mundo!" include bringing more families to the Poetry Center and strengthening its connection to the local community said Eva Maria Sierra, education and outreach assistant at the Poetry Center.
The Brave Books program celebrates independent bookstores and libraries from around the world.
"Much of this project was inspired by my own growing up in the bilingual community of Douglas and Agua Prieta, and the stories I loved hearing as a child in both English and Spanish," Sierra said.
Free programming and events
The Brave Books program is the Poetry Center's thematic celebration of independent bookstores and libraries from around the world. In years past, the program has featured Shakespeare and Company in Paris, the African National Memorial Bookstore in Harlem, the Library of Alexandria and Basra Central Library in Egypt and Iraq, Casa Camino Real in New Mexico, and most recently, zines and zine libraries.
This year's "¡Cuentos del Mundo!" theme celebrates the Biblioteca de México in Mexico City and connects classic folklore from around the world with modern Mexican literature.
The new Bilingual Storytime takes place at 10 a.m. the second Saturday of each month, now through December. Families with children up to through third grade are invited to hear stories read in English and Spanish. The events are free, no registration is required and parking is free on campus surface lots on Saturdays.
The updated children's area features new books in English and Spanish, plus braille titles.
"It has been a lot of fun imagining curriculum, community offerings and field trip activities centered around the new 'Brave Books' theme," Sierra said. "My research has also given me a renewed appreciation for oral history and the act of writing down stories, how stories continue to evolve long after they are written, and how different cultures contextualize and extract from the same stories in different ways.
"¡Cuentos del Mundo!" offerings and curriculum center Mexican literature as well as classic stories loved all over the world like fables, fairy tales, folktales and legends.
Bringing the community to campus
Expanding K-12 and community engagement through programs like "¡Cuentos del Mundo!" supports the university's Engagement with Our Communities to Create Opportunity strategic imperative, which calls on strengthening connections with local schools and making university resources more accessible to communities across Arizona.
The new mural and Brave Books titles are available to visitors at the Poetry Center. The full reading list is available online in English and Spanish. For more information, email pceducation@arizona.edu.