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Cranbrook storytime touches people in Spain
La mejor Biblioteca Pública de Purchena (which roughly translates to the Best Public Library in Purchena) can be found at the foot of the Sierra de Los Filabres, in southern Spain.
Besides serving as the area’s cultural centre and youth information office, the library itself has also won several national and international awards. And…the Best Public Library in Purchena has just reposted a virtual storytime from the Cranbrook Public Library.
When COVID-19 made in-person programming at the Cranbrook Public Library unsafe, the staff began to present their weekly storytimes online. Last year guest libraries from Australia and New Zealand created storytimes just for Cranbrook. This year the library launched ‘Community Storytimes,’ featuring local police, firefighters, bus drivers, business owners, and even City of Cranbrook Mayor Lee Pratt.
Just last week a special storytime was read by Arianne—who has moved to Cranbrook from Cuba—and her daughter Reynavana. Arianne read the story of ‘Little Red Riding Hood’ in Spanish, while her daughter translated it to English. The result is a fun and interactive reading by two generations in two separate languages.
Spain thought so too. The Purchena Library posted it on their own Facebook page, stating the following: “The tale of Red Hood in Spanish and English from the fantastic Cranbrook Public Library of Canada. Enjoy it. It is very well narrated by Arianne and her daughter Reynavana, both of Cuban origin. You can practice a little English by the way.”
From there it was reposted by the Biblioteca-CIJ de Tíjola (central Spain) and then by the Bibliotecas Públicas de Almería (a Spanish library federation which oversees 60 libraries).
The staff at the Cranbrook Public Library feel it is an honour to be featured this way, and hopes one day to be able to pay it back to their Spanish colleagues.
The viral video can be watched here.
Cranbrook Public Library