Lil' Readers brings bilingual story time to Instagram live

Tia Chucha's Centro Cultural and bookstore is filled with books in English and Spanish. To continue their efforts toward literacy during the coronavirus pandemic they started the new initiative Lil' Readers, a bilingual story time on Instagram live.

Rosalilia Mendoza, the bookstore manager, is a new mom with a baby boy named Emiliano. Mendoza said he loves to read as much as she does.

"He's turning 5 months next week so he's the one that inspired the Lil' Readers...and I'm reading books to him and he loves it," Mendoza said.

Lil' Readers is Tia Chucha's way of getting children excited about reading during this time by reading books on Instagram live in both Spanish and English.

"We have been hearing a lot that there's not a lot of bilingual programs right now with English and Spanish so I thought, "We have a lot of books, bilingual books let's share it, let's share our favorite stories,'" Mendoza said.

If you're interested in having your children listen in, visit @tiachuchas on Instagram at 12pm on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

"Thankfully we've been able to move pretty quickly and get a lot of our inventory online, so people that purchase through our website just know that that goes back to support the space and to help us keep going," said Michael Centeno, Executive Director at Tia Chucha's.

If you see a book during the Lil Readers Instagram live that you are interested in having at home, visit their online bookstore.