Monroe Library hosting bilingual lunch, story-telling family day

The Monroe Library is hosting a free bilingual lunch and story-telling event for the Sky Valley community to attend.

The library's Family Day at the Library or Dia Familia en la Biblioteca takes place noon to 3 p.m. Saturday, April 9. The event includes lunch, an introduction to library resources, a free kid's book, stories and art with librarian Shannon Dye and a bilingual presentation from special guest Yesenia Hunter called "Fandango and the Deliberate Community.GÇ¥

"We want to reach out to people in the community who may not have a library card or know about library resources,GÇ¥ Dye said. "We make it a point to have events that are bilingual, and work to support Dual Language Program families at Frank Wagner and other families who primarily speak Spanish.GÇ¥

The collaborative event is sponsored by Friends of the Monroe Library, which funded lunch and the craft activities, and nonprofit Humanities Washington, which helped bring Hunter.

Hunter is a writer and musician from the Yakima Valley, who as a child immigrated to the United States from Mexico. Her presentation is highly interactive as it spotlights the fandango, a traditional dance from Veracruz, Mexico. Fandango features "convivencia,GÇ¥ which is the merger of music, dance and verse, and has been known to promote a sense of belonging in communities.-á

Hunter will talk about the history of the fandango and ways that a dance can have a positive societal impact by introducing a common ground of community, music, joy, history, tradition and culture. -á -á -á

For more information about the event, visit http://tinyurl.com/familydaymonroe or contact Dye at 360-794-7851. The Monroe Library is at 1070 Village Way in Monroe.-á