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PAST NEWS ARCHIVE
October 30, 2001
Contact: Patricia Fraga, Austin Public Library, (512) 974-7528
Fax: (512) 974-7442

Dia de los Muertos celebrated at Windsor Park Branch

On Friday, November 2, 2001 from 12 noon to 1:30 p.m. Windsor Park Branch of the Austin Public Library 5833 Westminster Drive will celebrate this Mexican tradition with 90 first-graders from Graham Elementary School in northeast Austin. Peggy Sanders, a local artist, will be building a shrine and talking to the kids about this holiday, which introduces young people to the cycle of life and to the sanctity of death. This celebration offers an opportunity for remembering ancestors, celebrating family, and reflecting on the love for friends and relatives who have passed away. At the library the children will see a shrine and will be read a story about the Day of the Dead. Many of these first-graders do not speak English and many have not been to a public library. "These kids will have the opportunity to get a 'Star Card' (library card) and to explore the wonders of the library," says Jennifer Patterson, Managing Librarian. Rebecca Gigliotti, first-grade teacher at Graham Elementary, organized the field trip, which includes a stop at Fiesta Grocery—to watch the bakery make "dead bread," to a park for a picnic, and then to Windsor Branch for a story and tour. "We are excited about the kids coming to our library and we will be ready with books and library cards for everyone," says Patterson.

About Windsor Park Branch
Although the Windsor Park Branch on Westminster Drive is only about a year old—having opened on July 15, 2000—the branch itself has a history in Northeast Austin that dates back nearly four decades. And this history is truly one that speaks to the value of patience and perseverance. The new building, designed by architects Bethany Ramey and Tom Hatch, has a beautiful bronze sculpture of a lion with cub permanently standing guard at its entrance. Created by artist Paul Bond, the sculpture is titled "Reading Between the Lions." Today, the Windsor Park Branch has a service area that extends from East 51st Street up to U.S. Hwy 290, and from I-35 over to Ed Bluestein Boulevard and beyond. Open 59 hours per week, the branch maintains a collection of approximately 65,000 items, including materials for African-American and Spanish-speaking adults and children, videotapes, audiocassettes, CDs and CD-ROMs, and an extensive children's collection. Approximately 10,000 items are checked out per month.

Currently, Windsor Park is equipped with six free computer-Internet and two word processing stations. The branch also serves as one of the Michael and Susan Dell Wired for Youth Centers and is equipped with six Wired for Youth computers. Through the WFY program, computers and computer training services are made available to young people under the age of eighteen. Windsor Park also serves as one of the host branches for the AISD VICTORY Tutoring Program—a program that matches young students with AISD tutors for after-school homework "help sessions" in the Library.

While certainly things have changed a bit since the first "incarnation" of Windsor Park opened back in 1963, a lot has remained the same too. Just as in the early years, the Windsor Park Branch of the Austin Public Library serves as a gathering place for families, an activity center for children, a study hall for students, and an educational and informational resource for the Northeast Austin community. It is a thriving, people-oriented facility that has a strong neighborhood following...and a good old "neighborly" feeling.

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