Team to Perform Bilingual Mariachi Magic Show in Conjunction With Arts Fest

In conjunction with the city's arts festival Sunday, the library is hosting its third annual Diá de los Niños/Diá de los Libros.

Meg Thackoorie, the children's librarian, said the event is celebrated in libraries statewide in April and is meant to encourage reading for children of all cultural backgrounds. To this end, the library event will feature a bilingual (English and Spanish) mariachi and magic show and stories, crafts and songs in Chinese and Tamil, an Indian language.

"Moorpark is actually really diverse. Just on my walkabouts, I see people of all different cultures," said Thackoorie, who is known by Mrs. T to Moorpark's children.

Thackoorie said she gets help with the multicultural aspect of the Diá de los Niños event from library patrons.

"I look at the people who come in and ask if they want to participate. It's something fun to draw people in," she said. "And it challenges the library to increase its collection of non-English books."

The Chinese and Tamil presentations will be given by teams of parent and child library patrons.

In addition to the presentations, the library will give out free bilingual (English and Spanish) books while supplies last.

The library will open at 11 a.m. and the mariachi-magic show will begin at noon. Chinese storytime will begin at 1:30 and the Indian storytime begins at 2:30 p.m. Refreshments will be served.

The Moorpark Arts Festival takes place along High Street and at the civic center from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.