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1. Early Childhood Education
resources in Spanish
From: Monica Kirby <mkirby@lib.NMSU.Edu>
I was doing some searching for a student today and
went to the NAEYC (National Association for the Education of Young
Children) web page (I worked in Early Childhood Education for a while).
The organization itself is well respected in the field.
I was surprised (shouldn't be!) to find that they have a page of resources
(their own and other links) in Spanish at http://www.naeyc.org/resources/in_spanish/default.asp
Thanks, Hope all is well with you,
Monica
Monica A. Kirby
Social Sciences/Outreach Librarian
New Mexico State University Library
505-646-3079 mkirby@lib.nmsu.edu
[A wide variety of inexpensive Spanish-language brochures
covering topics such as choosing a preschool, selecting toys, and
developing parenting skills is at http://www.naeyc.org/resources/catalog/in-spanish-brochures.asp.
For a selection of videos in Spanish concerning the business and practice
of childcare, as well as developmental activities for child-rearing,
look at http://www.naeyc.org/resources/catalog/in-spanish-videos.asp]
2. Handy selection guide
on the Web
Of special interest to librarians like you is another
link not far from the site above, one to the "Culturally &
Linguistically Appropriate Service" page of the Early Childhood
Research Institute: http://ericps.crc.uiuc.edu/clas/
This one bids you a hearty welcome in 14 languages,
along with an agile moving hand fingerspelling the word. Dig into
the site and one of the treasures you'll find is a 1999 article entitled
"Selecting Culturally and Linguistically Appropriate Materials:
Suggestions for Service Providers," by Rosa Milagros
Santos and Debbie Reese (http://ericeece.org/pubs/digests/1999/santos99.html;
it's also available in PDF for you acrobatic types).
A sample from the piece:
"Get to know as much as you can about the
culture of the people you work with. Learn about their beliefs,
values, and traditions. Are there specific accomplishments the family
or community is proud of? What do they believe are the most important
things their children should learn? Who are the members of their
family and what are their roles?
How do they see their role as parents? Find out
if there are elements of their culture they guard from outside eyes,
discover why they are protective of them, and consider how this
protection may affect intervention. Become familiar with their concerns
about stereotyping, prejudice, and discrimination. What is their
history with educational, health, and welfare institutions?
How do their experiences with these services affect
their willingness to access services? Remember that answers to these
questions may vary from one family to the next, depending on factors
such as setting or income.
"The article also offers
good suggestions about evaluating translations, choosing apt media,
and other issues that make librarians' ears perk up.
3. Polyglossia @ yer library
The Baltimore Sun reports that the county
library is suddenly able to assist speakers of 148 languages, "without
adding a single staff member." What they did, you see, was to
contract with Language Line Services of Monterey, CA for real-time
telephone interpretation along with document translation. (The story
appeared August 21 under the headline, "Library increases access
to translation; Balto. County uses service to aid foreign-born patrons.")
4. Oregon libraries' Spanish-language
outreach featured
Since our friend Steven at www.librarystuff.net has a soft spot for
this caliber of library-story headlines, we'll send him one from the
Portland Oregonian: "Checking out Latino services"
(SW Metro edition, August 23, 2001). LINK
Here are some bits from Henry Stern's article:
"Ask Washington County librarians about services
for Latinos, and they'll tell you much more can be done.
"The county's Cooperative Library Services
hopes to step up its efforts to draw in more Latinos with a two-year
federal
grant totaling $143,200 that it's seeking through
the Oregon State Library. The cooperative should learn the application's
fate in October.
"Florian's [an avid library user] son is partial
to books about dinosaurs and crocodiles; her daughter to 'The Cat
in the Hat.' The mother likes books that help her improve her English.
"Florian takes her children each Friday morning
to a Spanish-language story time that's been offered since January.
Last Friday, her two children and five others leaned forward through
the hourlong session conducted by Omar Vargas, who read books with
a colors theme.
"Comparing a four-month period before the library
got the grant in March 1999 with the same period a year later, circulation
of Spanish-language materials increased eightfold, from 118 to 975
items. Nearly 300 library cards were issued to Spanish speakers.
"Carol Sibray, the library's youth services
supervisor, said there are stories that give life to those statistical
gains.
"Her library had almost nothing for Latinos before
the grant, she said. After the grant, she tells this story: A Latino
man came in searching for information in Spanish to give his wife,
who was terrified by her first pregnancy. He not only got something
for her in Spanish, he checked out a book that simplified the naturalization
process."
5. That whacko Flaco
A San Francisco-area library's efforts to serve Spanish
speakers was featured the very next day in the Alameda Journal
("Library's Spanish brings in new readers," Aug 24),
and who d'ya think was star reporter Sasha Talcott's go-to guy for
an off-the-wall quote or two? That's right; un humilde
servidor, who said, among other things, that "A
lot of libraries are way out of whack with the demographics of their
neighborhoods."
Get the entire scoop, including a mention of SOL
sister Araceli Quezada, at http://www.contracostatimes.com/community/alameda/stories/spanish_20010824.htm
6. As Mel Dewey twirls in
his grave...
Yeah, yeah: that's your ol' friend Flaco, again, intruding
on the hallowed pages of the current (Aug 15) issue of Library
Journal. In "The Public Library of the Future," he
and Kimberly Creighton spin out their fantasy of
running 2011's Library of the Year, and naming it after a tasty steamed
soybean snack.
7. Latinos, Spanish speakers
face greatest workplace risks
What's your library doing to get Spanish-language occupational
safety info into the hands of those who can use it? Turns out that
the US Department of Labor finds "Latinos More Likely to Die
on The Job, Spanish-Speaking Immigrants at Risk," and you can
read the article bearing that title at http://diversityinc.com/insidearticlepg.cfm?SubMenuID=090&ArticleID=3716.
From the piece: "Safety experts said Latino
immigrants, who often do not speak English and are pigeonholed into
menial labor jobs, often receive less job-safety training than English-speaking
workers do."
No kidding. But librarians know that many states
furnish free publications in Spanish that at least touch on the
basics of workplace safety, workers' rights, and other related topics.
And, by golly, those librarians work like the dickens to make sure
such brochures are readily available, right?
Right?
A segment of the Spanish-speaking workforce that
is particulalry at risk of injury and exploitation would be those
day laborers you've been hearing about. A page devoted to the library's
potential role in their lives is at http://skipper.gseis.ucla.edu/students/bjensen/html/plus/jornaleros.htm
8. Latino
USA looks at AIDS; new magazine is out
Speaking of health and safety education, public radio's
Latino USA devoted its Aug 31-Sept 6 program to "AIDS
& the Latino community." What you'll hear, if you tap the
audio feed at
http://www.utexas.edu/coc/kut/latinousa/realaudio/program/438.ram,
is that "Latinos continue to be infected at an
alarmingly disproportionate rate," and "We [Latinos] are
20 or more years behind, in terms of general awareness."
By the way, AIDS Project Los Angeles has just launched
a new Spanish-language AIDS publication called Impacto!
Read about it at http://news.excite.com/news/pr/010906/ca-aids-project-la
9. Now, if they'd only serve
some decent pumpkin empanadas...and
maybe yerba mate...when
will IHOP have pupusas?
Winchell's doughnut shops are serving up a version
of the Salvadoran quesadilla, a sweet bread made with cream
cheese, milk, eggs, and sesame seeds--following the lead of McDonald's,
Wal*Mart, and public libraries coast to coast in offering products
and promotion designed to appeal to Latin American customers. This
article from La Opinión is in Spanish, so buen provecho.
http://www.laopinion.com/archivo.html?START=1&RESULTSTART=1&DISPLAYTYPE=single&FREETEXT=winchell%
27s&FDATEd12=&FDATEd13=&BOOLp00=&BOOLp08=&SORT_MODE=Relevancia
10. Good guide to library
services for Spanish speakers
We all know there's not exactly a glut of books
available about what y'all are doing, but one of the good ones to
come out recently is Library Service to Spanish Speaking Patrons:
A Practical Guide, by Sharon Chickering Moller.
It's published by Libraries Unlimited; the book's official site
is at
http://www.lu.com/lu/showbook.cfm?titleid=518&userid=11743262
and a more descriptive review is up on the
PLUS Reference Shelf, at http://skipper.gseis.ucla.edu/students/bjensen/html/plus/shelf/chickering.htm
And folks, if you have something to add to that
shelf, you know where to send it...
11. Slingin' Spanish on
the stump
Janet Reno and Jeb Bush
are already salting their campaign speeches with Spanish in order
to court voters in Florida. No word yet on who has the most convincing
Cuban accent, but the AP reports, in "Politicians Try to Learn
Spanish," http://news.excite.com/news/ap/010827/14/politicians-spanish,
that
" The political importance of Hispanics is growing,
and so is the number of politicians learning Spanish to try to tap
into that voting bloc. All over Capitol Hill, lawmakers are picking
up audiotapes and textbooks to learn Spanish so they can use it to
chat with voters, deliver speeches or give interviews to Spanish-language
television, radio and newspapers..." Or,
insult them. Why, only last week our President, while
cotorreando with Vicente Fox, eloquently
employed the language of Cervantes to...well, read it yourself: "Bush,
Joking, Tells Media to 'Shut Up' in Spanish" http://news.excite.com/news/r/010905/14/politics-bush-mexico-media-dc
12. How come nobody nominated
Andrés Calamaro?!
It's Latin Grammy time, kids. The big show is this
Tuesday, September 11 at the fabulous Forum in Inglewood, CA.
You can view it live on the Web, and probably catch
it on TV somewhere, too.
Not a bad idea if you're wondering which CDs your
patrons are going to be wanting to check out. This year's bilingual
yet cumbersome Latin Grammy website is at
http://latingrammy.yahoo.com/ and it's
nowhere near as good as the one Terra put up last year at www.terra.com/specials/latingrammy/
13. Grammy, Granma, whatever...
What, you hadn't heard that the aforementioned Grammy
gala was moved out of Miami? And you don't know why?! You and your
Cuban library users can pick up daily news and commentary from the
island by visiting the website of AIN, the Agencia Cubana de Noticias.
English at http://www.ain.cubaweb.cu/english/index2.html,
Spanish at http://www.ain.cubaweb.cu/
14. Second Cuban library
tour in the works
From: Susan Weber <susanaquerida@yahoo.ca>
2nd Library Tour of Cuba
February 04 - February 18 , 2002
The first Library Tour of Cuba last February was extremely
successful. This second tour is being organized in response
to demand.
Seeing is believing and the Cuban Government and
Ministry of Education want you to see and experience the library
and education services that are provided for its citizens and to
enjoy the beauty of the island and the warmth of its people. You
will have the opportunity to learn 'first hand' all about Cuban
libraries as well as acquaint yourself with Cuban literature, culture,
history.... and much more.
Probably the main factors in making this an experience
you will remember for life, are the contacts and new friends
you will make -- both with the other participants on the tour and
your Cuban colleagues.
New this year will be a visit to the Havana International
Book Fair. France will be the Guest of Honour at this Fair, and
the theme will be 'Reading means Growth'. The fair will be
held in the San Carlos de la Cabaña Fortress, built in the 18th
century. The building, set in extensive grounds, is one of the most
beautiful cultural and tourist attractions in the Cuban capital--whose
historic district, Habana Vieja, has been declared a UNESCO World
Heritage Site.
You need not be a librarian to participate in the
tour, but a love of literature, learning, and books would
certainly help! For more information, see the website:
http://www.members.home/friendship/cuba
Please direct inquiries to Susan Weber, cubalibrary@yahoo.ca
Testimonials from last trip can be found at:
www.umich.edu/~katewill/cuba
www.lib.cult.cu/noticias/2001/02/visita.htm
www.newbreedlibrarian.org/archives/01.02.apr2001/feature3.html
Library Tour 2 - Feb. 4 - 18, 2002. Organized by
Susan Weber, MLS & Joyce Holmes, Friendship Tours.
emails: cubalibrary@yahoo.ca
or friendship@home.com
Tel: Susan: (604) 876-6917
Joyce: (604)540-4848
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