The Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies hosted a Spanish Story Time event at the Urbana Free Library on Saturday.

Families of all cultural backgrounds were invited to listen to Spanish music and bilingual stories. Afterward children made piñatas and played with maracas.

The center has sponsored the event every other Saturday of the month since 2001, said Alejandra Seufferheld, outreach coordinator for CLACS. The goal, Seufferheld said, is to promote cultural awareness and an enthusiasm for reading.

“One of the center’s primary goals is to spread awareness of Hispanic culture,” Seufferheld said.

An equal amount of Hispanic and non-Hispanic families attend Spanish Story Time, and sometimes there have been no Hispanic families present at all, Seufferheld said. Shu Ping Du brought her four-year old son, Wesley Lu, in hopes of exposing him to different languages.

“He is already very fluent in both Chinese and English, so I want him to try Spanish too. Foreign languages interest him, and I think it’s very important for him to start learning at a young age,” she said.

Seufferheld agrees that exposing children to cultures and languages at an early age is an important thing.

“We have seen a lot of elementary schools in the Champaign-Urbana area develop foreign language programs for their kids,” she said.

Leal Elementary in Urbana and Booker T. Washington Elementary in Champaign are constantly improving their programs, Seufferheld said. She added that their Spanish language programs are two of the strongest she has seen.

For parents like Michelle Jimenez, whose two-year old daughter Eva is just starting to learn her native language of Spanish, foreign language programs in schools are an important resource.

“It’s definitely hard, trying to teach your child about your culture and language while sending them to public schools that teach them English and about Western culture,” she said. “My husband and I are trying to find a balance between the two, but it’s easier with programs like (Spanish Story Time).”

Seufferheld said she has received only positive feedback from parents and teachers, and that she hopes the event will stay popular enough to run for years.

“It’s very important for the community to encourage its children to learn about other cultures and languages,” she said.