 The
Dance Floor
The uptight public librarian who shushes whispering
patrons and sits at home listening to Vivaldi with the volume
knob cranked all the way up to 3, is, like it or not, a historical
relic. These days we recognize that pop music can lure new people--particularly
young ones--in the door and help turn them into library addicts.
Good Latin music offerings could certainly broaden
your patron base. In case you haven't noticed Shakira's face
on a dozen magazine covers and in a few soda pop commercials,
brace yourself for a news flash: there's a bit of a boom
going on.
But música en español doesn't begin and
end with Gloria & Emilio Estefan's $800 million entertainment/real
estate empire. The other great but underhyped Spanish-language
music that your collection needs is on more obscure foreign and
independent labels, making it difficult to evaluate for purchase.
And maybe you've never heard of terrific artists like
Aterciopelados,
Maldita
Vecindad,
Fito Paez,
Tex Tex,
Manu Chao,
King Chango,
Inspector,
Amparo
Ochoa,
El TRI,
Genitallica,
Botellita de Jerez,
Jaguares,
Tijuana No,
Molotov,
Café Tacuba,
Control Machete,
Ely Guerra,
María Fatal,
Ricardo Arjona,
Kinky,
Tijuana No,
Julieta Venegas, or
Ozomatli.
The PLUS Dance Floor is here to
give you ideas about what's available and what your colleagues
think of it. We all hope that you'll contribute your own reviews and suggestions
for posting.
When shopping for unfamiliar music, of course
it's vital to pay attention to the expressed desires of your patrons.
If you've had some success encouraging purchase requests from
Spanish-speakers in your community, or in promoting their use
of your music collection, PLUS would love to hear
about that, too.
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