TOMÁS AND THE LIBRARY LADY
Adapted for the stage by José Cruz González
Synopsis
One Act (60 minutes)
Tomás Rivera, a young boy, and his family, migrant workers from Texas, are on their way to
Iowa to pick crops for the summer. As they drive along the bumpy road in the middle of the
night, Tomás’s mother, Josefa, worries that they shouldn’t have taken Tomás out of school to
pursue this work. But Tomás’s father, Florencio, reminds her that they need the money and
Tomás will be back in school soon. Josefa frets, wondering what’s making Tomás’s sleep so
restless.
Tomás, asleep as the car travels north, is in the middle of a nightmare. Nightmare Teacher is
screaming at him to speak English as he responds in Spanish. He wakes and sees his mother
driving the car. Although she asks to know what he was dreaming about, he refuses to tell her.
Josefa tries to reassure Tomás that he will be back to school in the fall, not knowing that this is
exactly what he’s worried about. A snoring Papá Grande (Tomas’s grandfather) saves Tomás
from having to explain his nightmare. Josefa tells him that Papá Grande thinks Tomás will be a
successful writer or painter someday.
Oh, no! The car gets a flat tire and Tomás’s family has to stop to fix it. As they continue on
their way, Tomás and his mother pass the time talking about many things including whether or
not the moon is following their car and about what waits for them in Iowa. They finally arrive at
the migrant camp, but their temporary home is just a chicken coop. Although Josefa is upset,
Florencio shows her how they can fix it up to be almost like home. Tomás’s family, after driving
so far and for so long, finally have a place to rest. Tomás drifts to sleep. But his dream about his
mother’s delicious pan dulce (sweet bread) quickly fades in to a nightmare. Nightmare Teacher
chastises him until he wakes. Although his mother wants to know what it is he dreams of,
Tomás keeps it to himself “hoping it would just go away.”
Tomás’s family quickly goes to work picking corn in the fields. Tomás and his younger brother,
Enrique, bring water to the workers. As Papá Grande takes a water break, Tomás and Enrique
beg for him to tell a story. So, Papá Grande (with Tomás and Enrique providing sound effects)
retells the story of a frightened man who, while riding through the forest in the middle of the
night, feels something grab him and is paralyzed with fear until the morning when he realizes
he’s caught in a tree. As they finish the story together, Papá Grande tells Tomás that he should
learn some new stories.
The next day Josefa sends Tomás in to town to mail a letter. She reminds him to behave himself.
He quickly runs in to town and notices a big building with the words “Carnegie Library” written
upon it. Tomás is confused. Carne means meat in Spanish. Do these English words mean meat
library? As Tomás ponders, the Library Lady approaches him offering her help. He tells her
what carne means in Spanish and, after attempting to say the word correctly, the Library Lady
convinces Tomás to come inside and see what the library is really all about. It’s filled with
books! Tomás is especially excited when the Library Lady explains that he can borrow the
books. Before he returns home (with his newly borrowed books), the Library Lady practices
reading with him. Tomás, filled with determination to become a better reader, runs back home.
After explaining to his mother where he got the new books, Josefa asks about the letter. In all
the excitement, Tomás forgot to mail it!
Throughout the summer, Tomás continues to visit the library and the Library Lady continues to
help Tomás become a better reader. Together they are immersed in stories about dinosaurs, the
wild west, and even Dorothy and the land of Oz. When Tomás practices his reading at home,
Papá Grande asks him to read the stories out loud. As Tomás reads, Papá Grande and Enrique
join him on the story’s adventure in the jungle with a tiger.
Tomás becomes so passionate about reading that it has (almost) replaced his fear of going back
to his school in Texas. But Nightmare Teacher returns one night in his dream. The next
morning, Tomás tells his mother he doesn’t want to go back to school. Josefa shares that she
wishes she had gone to school and that she knows Tomás is brave enough to pursue his
education. At the library, Tomás reveals to the Library Lady that he’s having the same
nightmare over and over. The Library Lady tells him that he needs confront whatever it is he’s
scared of, just like Dorothy from The Wonderful Wizard of Oz.
As Tomás and Enrique look for coal in the town dump, Tomás happens upon a book called In
Darkest Africa. The book takes the boys out of the dump in Iowa and far away to Africa with
giant snakes and a herd of elephants. Tomás is excited to share with the Library Lady his
newfound treasures. She’s moved by Tomás’s love for the books, and impressed when he reads
her a passage of Don Quixote in Spanish. She tells him he’s going to have a wonderful library.
As summer passes, Tomás continues to visit the library. He enjoys teaching the Library Lady
words in Spanish. But summer is coming to an end, and so is Tomás’s time in Iowa. He and
Enrique overhear their parents talking and realize they are leaving for Texas soon. That night
Tomás has another bad dream. But, instead of hiding from it, he confronts his Nightmare
Teacher, telling her that he speaks English now and knows how to read. And, just like the
wicked witch in The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, the Nightmare Teacher melts away.
Tomás takes Papá Grande with him to his last library visit in Iowa. He has one more Spanish
word to teach the Library Lady: adios. He brings with him his mother’s pan dulce as a thank
you, and the Library Lady gives him a blank book in which to write his own stories. The little
boy from Texas and the Library Lady from Iowa will miss each other!
As young Tomás begins writing in his new book, the story of the real Tomás Rivera is told.
Tomás Rivera was the son of migrant workers who became a writer, professor, and the first
Mexican-American chancellor of a major University of California campus. The University of
California at Riverside library was named in his honor.
Notes:
 This is a bilingual play.