Karen stepped on stage, took a breath, and shared a funny, relatable tale about a dysfunctional iPhone when she needed it most, her quest for help to fix it, and a case of mistaken identity.

It began as a volunteer gig—Pati Rocha was new to the community and found other Spanish-speaking moms who were looking to preserve some of their culture with their young children. She approached the library about allowing her to lead a storytime in Spanish, and the group was soon meeting once a week, using their own books and basking in each other’s company.

When middle school students Solenne Bradley and Addie Aufderheide gave thought to their English Language Arts “Combat the Silence” project, they knew they wanted to tackle the challenge of illiteracy.