A 4-year-old has become the librarian at the world’s largest library. We know you’re as awestruck as we are here! Believe you me, this is Daliyah Arana -- a native of Gainesville, Georgia -- who has already read more than 1,000 books and is now celebrating her love for reading as a day-time librarian.
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On January 10, Daliyah became the first girl and first African-American to lead the library for the day -- Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden tweeted two photos of herself and Daliyah taking a fun trip of the library.
It was fun to have 4-year-old Daliyah Marie Arana of Gainesville, GA as "Librarian For The Day." She's already read more than a 1,000 books. pic.twitter.com/MQfwlUrakO
At an age when most of us just start with reading words, Daliyah is making a mark in the history pages. An avid reader, she always loves to be surrounded by books. Daliyah is also an honorary librarian at her local library.
Daliyah’s mother, Haleema Arana, said in an interview with the Gainesville Times that her daughter started reading at the age of 2 (no surprise!!) and her first book was a picture book called Ann’s Big Muffin. She finished the book a month before she turned 3.
i'm sorry we need to know more. What are her favorite books? Favorite part of the day? Favorite everything??
Daliyah’s mother, seeing her potential, listed her name in Georgia’s 1,000 Books Before Kindergarten program (that encourages kids to read 1,000 books before their first day of kindergarten) to check if Daliyah could achieve the feat. And, she did it! The child prodigy finished all 1,000 books before her first day of preschool. Daliyah’s favourite book is Mo Willems’ The Pigeon Finds a Hot Dog!.
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Is it even legal to be that adorable? Put this champion on a @Wheaties box!
Her mom told The Washington Post it is Daliyah’s “most favourite, favourite, favourite library in the whole wide world”. Haleema wrote to the Library of Congress in November about her daughter’s extraordinary talent.
“I thought, why not enhance her experience and get her in the largest library in the world?” Haleema told BuzzFeed News. “I sent an email explaining her accomplishments; she’d already been on the local news and in our local newspaper. They responded right away and invited us all.”
On the first day, Daliyah visited the library for two hours and met with its 14th Librarian of Congress -- Dr Carla Hayden. Hayden, on the other hand, has made history this year as the first woman and the first African-American to run the nation's library. While they both shared a good passionate hour, Hayden gave Daliyah the privilege to sit at her desk and they kept talking.
Daliyah has her own library card now, and is a regular visitor at her local library, the Hall County Library in Gainesville.
"I like to check out books every day," Daliyah said. "And I want to teach other kids to read at an early age, too," Daliyah told the Gainesville Times.
Now the young bookworm Daliyah aims to “read 100,000” in the near future, she told local news station CBS46. She also wants to be an influencer for other kids to encourage them in reading.
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