Four Roger Williams University students recently brought the magic of multilingual storytelling to the Providence community during a special Storytime Celebration at the Rochambeau Library. The event featured readings in Spanish, Portuguese, and American Sign Language (ASL).
Adding to the excitement, Providence Mayor Brett Smiley joined the celebration, reading The Giving Tree and connecting the book’s themes to the city’s ongoing efforts to establish an improved multilingual school program. He was joined by Carina Pinto de Chacon, Chief of Family & Community Engagement for the Providence School District, who spoke on the transformative power of books and the importance of fostering a love of reading from an early age. Dean Merriweather and multiple professors across different departments also attended to show their support for the students’ hard work.
Following the mayor’s reading, RWU Professor Denielle Emans introduced Do You Know a Melipona Bee? To be read in Spanish by one of her students. This trilingual book—written in Spanish, English, and one of the Mayan mother tongues—follows a honey bee’s journey across Mexico’s Yucatán Peninsula in search of the endangered melipona bee.
An RWU student, Olivia VanBeber, continued the event by reading Fly Little Bird in Portuguese, further emphasizing the importance of linguistic diversity.
The final reading featured Monster Hands, a book written by a deaf author. It was signed in ASL by RWU student Emma Loftus, whose first language is ASL, making the event even more inclusive for the Deaf and hard-of-hearing community.
To conclude the event, Professor Emans held a book signing and distributed free copies of Do You Know a Melipona Bee? to the children. Attendees also received coloring pages, bookmarks, and stickers, making the event both educational and engaging. This initiative is part of a larger statewide project promoting literacy and language accessibility. Through book readings, donations to Little Free Libraries, and events addressing book banning, the students are working to ensure that diverse stories remain accessible to all.
Following the Providence event, the students traveled to Block Island on Sunday for Frosty Pages, Warm Stories, a special Read Across America Week storytime at the Island Free Library. Their visit was in collaboration with EveryLibrary and its local initiative, EveryLibraryRI—a campaign dedicated to advocating for library funding, protecting book access, and supporting literacy programs across Rhode Island.
As part of their mission, EveryLibraryRI donated five copies of Do You Know a Melipona Bee? by RWU Professor Emans to the library. This trilingual book—written in Spanish, English, and one of the Mayan mother tongues—follows a honey bee’s journey across Mexico’s Yucatán Peninsula in search of the endangered Melipona bee. Children and parents gathered to hear readings of Where the Wild Things Are, The Giving Tree, and Do You Know a Melipona Bee? The children also received coloring pages, bookmarks, and stickers, making the event both educational and fun.
Through their efforts, these RWU students are not only fostering a love of reading but also championing the importance of multilingual literacy and equitable access to books across Rhode Island.
