Menasha Public Library looks to celebrate and preserve the culture of the Fox Valley’s growing Latino and Hispanic population through its fourth annual Día de los Muertos celebration.
The celebration started back in 2020 when the City of Menasha brought on Victor Flores to do outreach to its Hispanic community. Initially, Flores was on a three-year contract, but the city kept him on to continue his work as a librarian and expand outreach to BIPOC communities. Día de los Muertos is one of the longest-running efforts from Menasha Public Library’s growing line of outreach programs.
“I’ve tried to focus on culturally relevant programming for the Hispanic community,” Flores said. “Everybody has their thing, and I think that for us it’s important. It reminds us where we came from.”
Often through assimilation, holding on to some sliver of culture will keep traditions alive. For Flores, he was actually not too familiar with the particulars of Dia de los Muertos growing up in southern Los Angeles. However, through his work with Menasha Public Library and the community, he’s come to learn Mexican traditions for the celebrations.
This year will have a few changes to its lineup after recent renovations to the library. Due to space constrictions, it will lack its typical ofrenda — an altar usually adorned with offerings to honor family members who have passed. The library currently cannot place permanent fixtures in the renovated space, so it will instead have a larger poster-style ofrenda.
However, this year’s celebration will add a new Catrina contest. Flores notes that people have often donned La Catrina costumes for the celebration, but it will now make it a full competition for the community.
“Every year, some of the moms dress up… take pictures, so this time we want to figure out a way to give them prizes for their support,” Flores said. “These are the moms that helped me and taught me about all these traditions.”
Other activities will be Loteria for adults, bingo for the kids, arts and crafts and a showing of the movie “Coco” in Spanish.
Playing the movie in Spanish and its meaning aligns with Menasha Public Library’s mission with the celebration. The movie, which centers on Día de los Muertos, encapsulates traditions and language and trying to keep them alive.
“That’s kind of the focus of the film ‘Coco.’ As long as you are remembered and people have memories of you, your memory will live on,” Flores said. “It’s hard to let our language go… these traditions, it’s not to distinguish, to be different. It’s part of our culture and something we want to keep.”
Despite wanting to make sure that culture is captured, Flores also wants to get the community into the library more often.
A study from Pew Research showed that foreign-born Hispanics are less likely to have ever visited a library in the U.S. and believe that libraries are not very accessible. That’s largely due to a lack of Spanish language programming, the study says, but Flores hopes to help dismantle those barriers through community efforts like Día de los Muertos — and it’s working.
Flores recalls seeing more children each year and more fathers tagging along for events.
“The greatest achievement I feel is when I see dads come to the programming because it’s almost impossible to get them to come to the library,” Flores said. “I feel that’s a very special part, when I see dads come, because they’re very shy.”
Menasha Public Library’s Día de los Muertos celebration will be held Nov. 1 from 1-3 p.m. at 440 First Street in Menasha. It is free to attend; no registration is required.
