Red hearts were scattered across tables, and “I Love You Through and Through” by Bernadette Rossetti-Shustak lit up the flat TV screen as children gathered for this month’s bilingual story time.
On the second Thursday of each month, parents take their kids to the Hogtown Creek Headwaters Nature Center for Bilingual Story Time at the Park, an event organized by the Alachua County Library District’s Millhopper Branch.
Coleen Tobin, a children’s librarian at the Millhopper Branch, and the rest of the library staff put together a collection of Valentine’s Day-themed stories and songs.
On Thursday, Tobin and Anita Aguirre, a volunteer with the program, read through a collection of dual language books in English and Spanish, including “Pete the Cat: I Love My White Shoes” by James Dean, Eric Litwin and Kimberly Dean, and sang along in both languages with the kids.
Since November 2023, when the event was organized, Tobin and the staff have been using technology in a greater capacity. Stories and songs are now displayed on a large TV screen, making it easier for children to follow along and participate, Tobin said.
The library uses two online databases, Hoopla and Libby. Hoopla offers a larger collection of bilingual materials for children, including Spanish stories, she explained.
Aguirre, who has attended with her daughter Amelia since the sessions began, noted that online databases have improved their capabilities.
“By having access to more books online through the library, it really opens the catalog and amount of information and books that we have to choose from every month,” Aguirre said.
Parents and families can also use their library card to access the databases and read some of the books from home, Tobin said.
Tobin said attendance for the event has increased over time. It can often fluctuate by month, depending on holidays and when people may be out of town, she explained.
After each session, the Nature Center has started planning arts and crafts for kids to participate in, Tobin said. It gives children a chance to hang out and have fun after an educational experience, she added.
Tiffany Graves, a Gainesville resident, began attending bilingual story time with her 5-year-old son last month.
“They love nature, so I feel like it’s a win-win situation to have story time, different languages and be out in nature,” Graves said.
While she doesn’t speak fluent Spanish, she studied it and believes it’s important for children to be exposed to different cultures and languages.
Aguirre, a native of Perú, has lived in Gainesville for almost 20 years and has noticed the increasing size of the Hispanic community in the city. When she first arrived, she was one of the few people from Latin America, she said. Now, she sees more people from different Caribbean and South American countries. While the community is still small, it is growing, she added.
According to the 2024 U.S. Census Bureau population report, the Hispanic and Latino population in Gainesville is 13.6%.
Aguirre said she started volunteering with the program about a year and a half ago and believes it’s the best way for children to learn.
“This is how all kids learn in English and Spanish,” Aguirre said. “It’s important because they learn more about our culture and different situations in Spanish.”
Aguirre said it’s important that her daughter, who is growing up in Gainesville as a bilingual child, learn English and Spanish. She wants her to be able to communicate with her family and grandparents, who only speak Spanish.
In addition to bilingual story time sessions, the Millhopper Branch has begun hosting Music and Movement at the Park at the Nature Center on the last Thursday of each month.
Hosting both events is part of the library’s mission in promoting early literacy concepts, Tobin explained. “Every Child Ready to Read” is a national literacy program co-sponsored by the Public Library Association and the Association for Library Service to Children.
The program is built on five pillars: to talk, sing, read, write and play.
Story time sessions allow the library to incorporate those pillars by encouraging children to follow along with stories and ask questions, Tobin said, while the bilingual aspect introduces them to a different language.
“And it’s great for families, where maybe one parent is bilingual, and they want to expose their child to Spanish and be able to try and learn that more,” Tobin said.