Our Migrant Head Start families saunter off after a long day at work to explore the treasures of the Watsonville Library Children’s Room: kids’ magazines, DVD’s, music and of course thousands of children’s books.
The parents–after working ten hours in the strawberry fields—quickly shower and then rush down to get a tour of all the resources at the Watsonville Library. Here they can borrow a driver’s manual, practice their English, learn a new recipe or just relax and gather their thoughts in a lovely room decorated with a mural of Watsonville farmworkers from across the decades.
A highlight at our annual field trip is listening to Jose Manuel Serrano from Raising a Reader Literacy Program read to the children. He also gives parents a pep talk about the benefits of conversations, sharing books and visiting the library regularly. This week Manuel read the brand new children’s book Dreamers, by Yuyi Morales, a particularly apt book for our families.