AARP - Segunda Juventud - Spanish-language library services

New Community Hot Spot

By Karen J. Bannan
October/November 2006

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The Las Vegas-Clark County libraries keep their Spanish-speaking patrons busy—and informed. Children participate in story times; adults take courses ranging from UFO history to job-interview strategies. “Spanish speakers in my community often don’t have the knowledge to interview successfully, though they may be qualified for the job,” says Salvador Avila, the librarian who taught the interviewing course.

Indeed, Spanish-language library services like these are addressing the needs of communities nationwide, says Ana-Elba Pavón, president of Reforma, an association promoting library services to Latinos. And these services are becoming more popular. “Ten years ago, you may have seen this phenomenon in larger cities,” she says. “But today I go to book fairs and see people representing libraries from places like Kansas.”

Statistics back up Pavón’s claim. A survey by the magazine Críticas, produced by Publishers Weekly and School Library Journal, found that 86 percent of libraries have Spanish collections.

“It’s a trend that started after the 2000 census, when librarians got statistics about the different populations in their communities,” says Carmen Ospina, a former editor at Críticas.

“The whole point,” says Pavón, “is to bring the community into the library.”

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