1. Spanish-Language Books on Tape for Adults

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A librarian here in LA recently lamented a lack of BOT sources in Spanish.  Kids' books aren't hard to find, but it's a different story for adult materials.

Palabras Ltd. in Portland, OR is one good supplier she wasn't aware of.  If you know about others, please tell your fellow Solistas!

Palabras Ltd. deals exclusively in the works of Latin American authors, and all the readings are recorded by native Latin American narrators.  Their website is at

http://www.teleport.com/~palabras/

and when I wrote the company this week, I received this reply:

--Yes, Palabras Ltd. is still in business. Our web site is out of date (I hope to update it next month). We now have eight audio titles ( and all, so far, have texts also available). We have flyers we can mail to anyone interested.

Thanks for your interest and support.

Dave Porter

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2. Spanish-English Glossary of Library Lingo

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You might find this a useful aid in preparing bilingual signage and library documents:

http://birch.incolsa.net/~hispanic/glosario.htm

It has more than 250 entries.  Do note the Mexican flag at the top of the page--some of the terms might not square with the Spanish most widely spoken in your area.

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3. Helpful Hint:  Stamp Your Bookmarks!

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Sylvia Anderle, the enthusiastic and highly effective Spanish-language outreach librarian at the Fairview Branch of the Santa Monica PL, offers this suggestion:

Those bookmarks from ALA and other sources, the ones that are so much fun to distribute here and there, usually have ample blank space.  It only costs a few bucks to have a rubber stamp made up that you can use to add the name of your library, along with its address, phone number, and whatever else you care to put on your customized marcapáginas.

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4. A Campaign Tactic to Watch Out For

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There's a library construction funding measure on next Tuesday's California primary ballot.  Its opponents, in their voter's pamphlet statement, urge us to believe that building and renovating libraries is a waste of money because, they claim, the World Wide Web is gradually renderng book barns obsolete!

Perhaps some of you have already encountered this tactic.  If so, please share your most effective responses.  If not, ¡aguas!  Chances are it will pop up elsewhere.