King County Library System partners with the King County Library System Foundation to host an 'Early Literacy Parties in Spanish' series, otherwise known as 'Fiestas de Alfabetización Temprana en Español' 'Fiestas' are workshops designed for Spanish-speaking families to prepare their children for Kindergarten by providing guidance around early literacy and establishment of educational goals. At the program's root is the family - Fiestas encourage parents to embrace their role as their child’s first and most important teacher. A barrier to participation has been the cultural norms of local Spanish-speaking populations - new immigrant families have expressed suspicion of government sponsored programs, including those at KCLS libraries, and have been hesitant to attend an otherwise attractive activity.

Fiesta' program coordinator Teresa Luengo Cid partnered with KCLS Virtual Library Services to minimize this cultural barrier to participation - a series of videos was created, offering a preview of the 'Fiesta' experience to hesitant potential attendees. Videos were posted to YouTube, arranged via playlist, embedded on relevant KCLS webpages, and promoted by staff and past attendees: several patrons included in the videos have emailed video links to family and friends.

• Video series provides barrier-reducing impressions of ‘Fiesta’ program
• Series overview video provides promotional asset in establishment of relationships with potential partner organizations
• Initial video, ‘Fiestas: El Alfabeto, Las Letras, Los Sonidos,’ viewed 1,067 times as of 3/30/11