Our Diversity Fair Scholarship winners Miguel Vicente and Katie Cunningham presented their amazing outreach programs at yesterday’s OLOS Diversity Fair.  Miguel served as a trainer for the Spanish Language Outreach Program and Katie participated in a workshop in her area.  Both were selected to attend ALA and present posters at the Diversity Fair based on the successful outreach programs that have implemented for their Spanish-speaking communities. If you are interested in learning more about Miguel’s work at the Athens Regional Library in Georgia, view the webinar archive of the SLO June webinar. For more information about Katie’s outreach efforts at the Columbus Metropolitan Library in Ohio, check our case study about her project.

In keeping with our fifth birthday theme, here is a list of the five trainers in the Spanish Language Outreach Program who inspire me the most. It was no easy task to choose just five from the group of over 100 incredibly talented trainers who have taken part in the SLO program over the past four years. I could have come up with many other lists (five funniest, smartest, most dedicated) but I am sticking with the five, that by their example, make me want to work even harder for libraries and Spanish speakers. To read more about these and our other talented trainers, visit our Trainer Spotlight section. Happy Birthday WJ!

Yolanda Cuesta – hands down the winner. Yolanda has been with the SLO program from the beginning, serving as our master trainer and curriculum developer. The long term goal of the SLO program is to increase usage of public access computers in libraries by Spanish speakers. Yolanda taught me that in order to achieve this goal, libraries must first build relationships and trust in the Spanish-speaking community – that and pretty much everything else I know about library services to Spanish speakers.

Bertha Huertero – When Bertha first started working in libraries in the San Diego area years ago, her fellow librarians told her “there are no Latinos in this community”. She didn’t simply accept what she was hearing from those above her. Instead, Bertha set about developing programs and marketing practices that brought the Latino community into the libraries in droves.

Shelly Quezada – I’d like to be Shelly when I grow up. Her path in libraries has taken her amazing places (from the Bookmobile in Watts to the Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners and to libraries in Brazil, Mexico, Java, Borneo and Sumatra! She approaches her work with passion and determination to provide information and outreach to populations who are most in need of the services libraries can offer.

Miguel Vicente – How can you not be inspired by Miguel’s story? In 1994 he left Cuba on a raft. He learned English, earned a Masters Degree in Education, and became the library manager of the Pinewoods Library and Learning Center in Athens, Georgia. He is currently working on his MLS and he is thrilled that his position at Pinewoods allows him to help other Spanish-speakers to realize their own American dream.

Kim Iraci – Kim lives in a rural area of upstate New York that has recently been besieged by immigration raids. Through her work with community leaders (using our handy Community Leader Interview Guide), Kim gained their trust and eventually learned that there was a whole underground network of people and organizations providing services to migrant workers in the area. As a result of her outreach efforts, Kim’s library is becoming part of this trusted network.

The REFORMA DC Metro Area Chapter, in conjunction with the Montgomery County Public Libraries, WebJunction, and the Maryland State Department of Education’s Division of Library Development & Services is offering a FREE one-day workshop, “If You Build It, Will They Come?: Expert Tips for Developing Spanish Language Collections.” Speakers include Dr. Camila Alire, Elissa Miller, and Betty Valdés.

When: Monday, May 5, 2008 (Cinco de Mayo)
Where: Rockville Library, Montgomery County Public Library

 Registration is free but seats are limited so register fast!

An outstanding report released last week by the American Library Association (ALA) study provides new information about library services and programs developed for non-English speakers. The report looks at effectiveness of services, barriers to library use, most frequently used services and most successful library programs by language served.

I wasn’t surprised by the report’s data that indicates Spanish is far and away the most supported non-English language in public libraries. Seventy-eight percent of libraries reported Spanish as the foreign language that is their first priority when it comes to providing programs and services to non-English speakers. Asian languages ranked second in priority at 29%.

I was surprised to learn that smaller communities are serving a larger proportion of non-English speakers. The report found that the majority of libraries serving non-English speakers are in communities with fewer than 100,000 residents.

Check out ALA’s one-page summary of the report highlights or download the full report. Stay tuned for a companion toolkit coming soon!
 

As long as we’re knee-deep in PLA, this is a good time to draw your attention to our current Member Spotlight. Stephanie Gerding presented Wednesday a PLA pre-conference Grants workshop and is participating Saturday as virtual panelist on a WebJunction-led session (”From Hype to Help: Making a Difference with New Technologies Saturday”).

Gerding is a independent consultant with deep experience in the library world, seemingly having worked everywhere—the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, two state libraries, SIRSI, as well in academic and corporate libraries.

Of course we’re a little biased here, but we think some of her best work has been done as a WebJunction supporter. In addition to all the great content she has contributed to the community, Stephanie has been a trainer and coordinator for WebJunction’s Rural Libraries Sustainability and Spanish Language Outreach programs.

She even included WebJunction in the acknowledgments in her latest book, the Accidental Technology Trainer: A Library Guide:

“WebJunction—the organization, the website, the members, and everyone working there—has been very valuable to me, not only in writing this book, but as a trainer and librarian as well.”

Stephanie subscribes to the motto: “Live the Dream.” In the member spotlight, she passionately explains her method of directing her time and energies directly toward her goals. Once you accomplish that, she says, you’ll find opportunities for achieving your personal and professional goals begin appearing.

The process is certainly working for Stephanie! There’s more good stuff in the profile, so be sure to check it out.

The four Cs of the OCLC Language Set Program: Content, Community, Catalog, Campaign; will be defined for PLA attendees in an update of multi-language “Language Set” offerings today (Thursday) at 3:30 at the Hyatt Regency Rooms. I look forward to representing WebJunction and sharing my experience with Spanish language collection development and the OCLC Language Set Program in support of this great initiative. Come and learn…

Now that the SLO pre-conference is done, I can focus my attention on the PLA sessions that kick off tomorrow.  Here are my conference session picks:

• Caught in the Middle: Immigration Controversy and Library Service
  Thursday, March 27th,8:30am
• The Disconnected: Who are They? How Can We Help Them?
  Thursday, March 27th, 10:30am
• Supporting Early Literacy in Young English Language Learners: Language of the Heart @ your Library
  Thursday, March 27th, 2:00pm
• Bilingual Subject Headings for the 21st Century
  Friday, March 28th 8:30am
•  Think Outside the Book: Online Services as Outreach
  Friday, March 28th 2:00pm
• Twenty Cultures, One Voice: Nuances and Challenges of Marketing Library Services to the Hispanic Community
  Saturday, March 29th 10:15am

Yesterday, WebJunction’s Spanish Language Outreach Program hosted an all day pre-conference for over thirty librarians from across the country.  Trainers Bertha Huertero, Bruce Pomerantz, and Rachel Rubin did an outstanding job of sharing their knowledge and experience about implementing effective outreach to Spanish speakers!

We were honored to host  guest speakers, Sr. Ricardo Hernandez, Consul General of the Mexican Consulate and Sr. Jesse Bethke Gomez, President of Comunidades Latinas Unidas En Servicios (CLUES). Both speakers shared their insights about the needs of the Latino community in the Minneapolis area.

CLUES is Minnesota’s premier provider of behavioral health and human services to the Latino community. A community builder and a catalyst for change, CLUES provides services that advance and enhance the quality of Latino’s lives in Minnesota, including: Mental Health Services, Chemical Health Services, Family Services, Aging Well Services, Employment Services, and Educational Services.  They are doing amazing work by providing programs and services to the Latino community that meet the needs of the “whole family”. 

Sr. Gomez strongly encouraged our participants to approach outreach to their Spanish-speaking patrons in a similar “family centric” way.