1. What's up with Baker & Taylor?

From: Jaime Declet <jjdeclet@yahoo.com>

Hi Bruce and everyone else.  Has anyone in this group used Baker and Taylor for a Spanish book source?  I noticed that they claim to have a considerable Spanish collection but they never seem to have the stock to supply them.  Sometimes they will claim to have a book and when you look at their numbers they have 300 requests and 20 available and only 40 in order.  Any suggestions?

2. Big news in Spanish-language book publishing...

HarperCollins's new imprint, 'Rayos,' will lead off this autumn with a new one from the great Victor Villaseñor. This and a bunch of other recent news about US publishers' growing interest in the Spanish-reading market is in a Los Angeles Times story at http://www.latimes.com/features/lifestyle/la-000058803jul18.story

I asked for permission to reprint the article and the Times sent me a bill for $150 (me, a subscriber!) So run, don't walk, to the URL above, which should offer the story for free until July 28. (If you miss it and want to read it, email me and I'll send you a copy, strictly on the hush-hush.)

3. ...and magazine publishing, too

Some notable periodicals news is up at diversity.com: The fine folks who bring you the Weekly World News are launching a bimonthly Spanish-language soccer magazine. Not a bad idea.

Supermarket Tabloid Publisher Targets Latino Readers
http://www.diversityinc.com/insidearticlepg.cfm?SubMenuID=720&ArticleID=3366
"American Media CEO David Pecker told investors last Thursday that he wants to be the print equivalent of Spanish-language television network Univision, spokesperson Richard Valvo said. American Media plans to launch Acción Deportiva (Action Sports), a twice-monthly soccer magazine, later this month, Valvo said. The magazine will be American Media’s second Spanish-language publication. Mira, a celebrity-focused tabloid that Valvo called a cross between Star and People, has been in print for about a year."

4. New discussion list

The estimable Dr Kathleen de la Peña McCook's latest project, whose exceptional content has already transcended its peculiar moniker, is a list worth joining. The focus is on the myriad ways libraries can take part in community development.Example, from a posting this week:

"NEXO-Newsletter of the Julian Samora Research Institute
Positive changes and improved community attitudes towards the migrant and  seasonal farmworker (MSF) population will result from a better understanding of  the population's diverse economic contributions to the region. Michigan focus,  but generalizable to any community where MSF population exists.
http://www.jsri.msu.edu/RandS/nexo/s01/#farm"
**************************************************

The list is called "A Librarian at Every Table" (that derives from her 2000 book A Place at the Table, an excellent look at libraries involved in community-building). To sign on to the list, simply visit http://www.cas.usf.edu/lis/a-librarian-at-every-table/ and choose from a number of message digest/delivery options.

5. Multicultural Libraries forum

If you're searching for other discussion lists to join, the Multicultural Libraries forum http://www.openroad.net.au/forum/ is low-traffic (sometimes months go by without a message...) and high-interest, particularly if you're interested in the technical side of supplying good library service to speakers of all sorts of languages. Andrew Cunningham down in Australia is the driving force behind this list and related projects; here's a recent posting concerning next month's IFLA action in Boston and other Northeasterly cities:

From: andrewc@mail.vicnet.net.au
Subject: a question ...

"Hi everyone,

The Buffalo conference on "Technology, globalization and multicultural services in libraries" [more details at: http://libris.lib.buffalo.edu/iflabuffalo; satellite meeting to the mid-August IFLA conference in Boston http://www.ifla.org/IV/ifla67/index.htm] is just around the corner. So I thought it was about time I unleashed my curiosity.

I'm curious about the range of uses technology is being put to to assist in providing services to multicultural populations, including native cultures/immigrants/international students/etc.

I'm interested in a range of things: multilingual internet access, multilingual research tools, multilingual study aids, multilingual digital libraries and ebook collections, use of technology to aid in the selection and acquistions of materials in other languages, the use of multilingual office and DTP software, professional communications, and anything else.

Thanks

Andrew andrewc@mail.vicnet.net.au"

6. The traditional SOL book giveaway

It just wouldn't feel like summer without a SOL contest. Put on your thinking cachucha, pick up your copy of the useful new selection aid Críticas, and be the first one to hunt down and send in the correct answers. You'll win for your library a dandy Spanish-language book.

The questions: 1) What did your SOL buddy Barbara Bibel review in the latest issue? 2) What trenchant South American author, now rooted in the US, had several novels published this summer by Siete Cuentos/Seven Stories Press? 3) Who translates 1998 Nobel Prize winner José Saramago's stuff into Spanish?

7. We're rooting for Aterciopelados

The Latin Grammy nominees have been announced, and it's a more interesting roster this year than last. If you want to acquaint yourself with what a lot of people are currently listening to in Spanish, check out the (trilingual!) page listing the contenders at http://www.latingrammys.com/awards/latin_grammy/index.html