El Paso Matters – El Paso libraries mark 30 years of Día de los Niños celebration

As director of the El Paso Public Library system, Norma Martinez has spent years expanding what a public library can offer — from eliminating late fees to rebuilding programming and staffing after the COVID-19 pandemic.

This weekend, those efforts will be on full display as the city marks the 30th anniversary of Día de los Niños / Día de los Libros, a large-scale literacy celebration expected to draw thousands of families to Pavo Real Park in the Lower Valley.

The annual event, scheduled from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, April 25, at 9301 Alameda Ave., brings together more than 60 community organizations for a day of free books, educational activities and cultural programming aimed at promoting literacy among children across the Borderland.

What began three decades ago as a small reading initiative has grown into one of the library system’s largest community events — a reflection of both the city’s demand for accessible resources and the library’s evolving role beyond books.

Established in 1894, the El Paso Public Library system now operates 14 branches and a bookmobile, serving El Paso as well as southern New Mexico and Ciudad Juárez. In addition to lending books, movies and digital media, the system offers English and citizenship classes, workforce training resources and youth programming, while maintaining extensive local history archives through its Border Heritage Center.

In recent years, library officials have focused on expanding access — including eliminating late fees, restoring staffing levels and increasing programming across branches — efforts Martinez said are aimed at ensuring residents can fully utilize public services without barriers.

The Día de los Niños event plays a key role in that mission. Organizers say the celebration is designed not only to promote reading, but also to connect families with free resources they may not otherwise access.

“There’s a lot of people that take for granted carrying a book in hand,” said Erika Fibela, the library system’s production and marketing coordinator. “We’re giving kids the opportunity to have their own book and to take that home with them.”

With donations funding the books distributed at the event, organizers say the goal is to remove cost barriers while reinforcing the importance of literacy at an early age.

El Paso Matters spoke with Martinez to learn more about how the event is put on, and also about renovations to the Main Library Branch, 501 N. Oregon St. in Downtown, which began in 2021. 

Responses have been edited for brevity and clarity. 

How long does it take to prepare for an event like this every year? 

Martinez: We start preparing four or five months beforehand. 

For this event do you work with school districts or local organizations? 

Martinez: We do partner with them throughout, so they know about the event, and they get our posters and flyers, so that we could communicate to the children in the community. We involved the schools for the parade. There’s like 60 to 80 participants, vendors, organizations that provide things for the children. Whether it be a craft, a to do thing in the table, to learn something.

Since COVID, when there was a budget and staffing difficulties, what changes or growth has there been towards the library and the events it hosts? 

Martinez: The libraries do some phenomenal work. We are practically almost fully staffed. 

The libraries are free. All of the branches offer story time, Lego time, conversational English and citizenship classes. And then every branch (has) 40 programs or more at their locations, including the standard programs… depending on where they’re at and what the community needs are. Some communities offer French, others offer some exercise, others offer other types of story time, whether it be Spanish or lap sit for the younger kids. So it all depends on what part of the libraries you’re looking at, but there’s programming like everywhere at all locations. 

I think that the best part is that we are almost completely fully staffed, and that really helps out.

The library has started “No Late Fees” to check out books. How was this decision made and why? 

Martinez: Oh, yes, absolutely! I’m so proud of the no late fees. It’s a trend going throughout the country. I think it was last year when we started it, no late fees, and we just wanted the people not to feel that they couldn’t come to the library if they owed money. So most of our books get returned and if they return them a little late. It’s okay. They still don’t have fines. You do get blocked. 

So, if you take a book out and you check it out for three weeks, and then they renew, but after the 5th renewal, if you don’t return it, or if somebody is requesting it on a hold, it stops you from renewing it. And then it starts saying that you owe money, but once you return the book, there’s no fees. 

So, it’s just a way of saying to the people, it’s really important that you keep reading, that you keep coming back to the library and that you keep using the services that we offer. You don’t have to stay out because you owe a fee. 

Is there anything else you’d like to add? 

Martinez: I’m just really thrilled of the response at the city, that the community provides the libraries, and we are here to help. We are here to help you in anything that you need. We’re not just books, we have a whole lot more to offer. 

Michelle James Thorpe, a senior journalism student at the University of Texas at Austin, is a contributing writer for El Paso Matters as part of a capstone course this semester.

The post El Paso libraries mark 30 years of Día de los Niños celebration appeared first on El Paso Matters.

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