The Spanish Language Outreach Program is wrapping up our Training Institute for trainers from Arizona, Arkansas, Indiana, D.C., Maryland, Virginia, and Wyoming.  Trainers in these states will be part the next round of the SLO Program that is set to deliver 132 workshops over the next six months across the country.

It has been a great week full of learning about best practices to help library staff meet the needs of their Spanish speakers. One of the highlights of the Institute was hearing from two of our Round 1 trainers from Georgia, Dusty Gres and Liza Newsom. 

Both Dusty and Liza are directors from rural libraries in Southern Georgia and they delivered SLO trainings in Georgia last year.  We invited them back to help demonstrate the SLO curriculum and to talk about their experiences in the field.  They shared not only their incredible deep South-wit, but also some practical strategies and tips to help the next group of trainers get off on the right foot. 

Dusty and Liza shared their experiences and ideas for helping to change the hearts and minds of library staff and community members who are reluctant to reach out to Spanish speakers.  As Liza likes to say, “changing minds is harder than changing diapers!”

Share your own stories about how you are changing minds and making the case for serving your Spanish-speaking community on the SLO Discussion Boards.