Developing Hispanic
Library Collections
Developed by
Dr. Barry M. Bishop
University of Houston-Clear Lake
Adjunct
Objectives
At the end of this module, the
participant will have an awareness of
SELECTION strategies for developing
Hispanic collections
RESOURCES from which to order
Hispanic materials
RECOMMENDATIONS for some
classics to have in your collection
Selection Questions
What criteria do you use to develop
any collection?
How do you decide what to
purchase?
Selection 1
Good criteria for developing any
collection should also be applied to
your Hispanic collection.
You decide what to purchase for your
Hispanic patrons the same as any
other patrons—you listen to their
needs, ask clarifying questions, and
try to purchase what meets their
needs.
Selection 2
When trying to match Hispanics’
needs to the resources of the Library,
in addition to all considerations given
to any patron, also consider:
Culture
And Language
Selection 3
The three C’s
Curriculum – know what curriculum you
support
Collection – know what already exists in
your collection
Community – know what your
community wants (including asking your
Hispanic students)
Selection 4
ALA Guidelines for Library Services to
Hispanics
“The members of these [Hispanic]
communities have diverse needs and
are entitled to access to materials
diverse enough to meet those needs.”
http://www.ala.org/Template.cfm?Section=specialpop&template=/ContentMa
nagement/ContentDisplay.cfm&ContentID=10623.
Selection 5
Recent immigrants have unique needs:
Need for information to survive and assimilate
into American life (not culture).
Learning about English, food, housing, medical
services, education, jobs, transportation, legal
matters, immigration policy, undocumented
aliens, naturalization, refugee status, guest
worker programs, and citizenship.
As time passes for immigrants their
interests tend to turn to self-help, practical,
to-do books on any topic.
Selection 6
Hispanics desire to maintain contact
with their literary culture.
Mexico sales for comic books are
among the highest in the world. Some
immigrants from Mexico lack literacy
in Spanish. The desire for comic
books or fotonovelas indicates a
desire to read at whatever level of
literacy one possesses.
Selection 7
Serving the Hispanic community requires
plenty of time and lots of face-to-face at
local events outside the library.
(Librarians interested in learning more about how best to
serve Spanish-speaking populations on- or offline should
read "The Best Little Library in Texas," SLJ 1/01, about
the Terrazas Branch.)
Selection 8
Materials for Hispanics come in two basic types:
Original Spanish Language materials
Translations from English
Original Spanish Language authors may be from
Spanish speaking countries or Spanish Speakers
from the US.
Often, the translator is as critical or more so as the
original author.
Selection 9
If starting or revising a neglected Hispanic
Materials collection, consider using the
State Library CREW Manual
CREW helps Librarians weed the collection
in a systematic incremental manner
Purchasing materials in the same sections
of the collection that are being
recommended for weeding makes the task
manageable and keeps the Library
balanced
Resources Questions
Where do you start?
How do you start?
Resources 1
Read this article:
Kirkham, Aileen. “A Bilingual Library and
Programming: Help! I'm Not Bilingual.”
Library Media Connection Jan 2003: Vol.
21 Issue 4, p42, 2p, 2c
If you have access to EBSCO use this
link:
http://search.epnet.com/login.aspx?direc
t=true&db=tfh&an=8987748
Resources 2
Taking a Spanish course is helpful,
even if it's just listening to
recordings during your work
commute
Getting involved with other groups
that provide services to your patrons
Resources 3
Also consider getting involved in ALA-affiliate
REFORMA, the National Association to Promote
Library and Information Services to Latinos and
the Spanish-Speaking (www.reforma.org), which
has many local chapters throughout the United
States.
Be sure to check online resources such as
Spanish in Our Libraries (www.sol-plus.net), which
offers a discussion list and links to Spanishlanguage versions of sample library policies,
flyers, and instruction, as well as a "survival
Spanish" guidebook for library workers.
Resources 4
Seek collection analysis from various vendors
(Follett, Makin, Sagebrush, etc…)
Attend the Guadalajara Book Fair
(www.fil.com.mx/ingles/i_index.asp). There are
support opportunities available to those who apply
early: The ALA-FIL Free Pass Program, for
example, provides travel and registration
assistance for librarians who work in the area of
Spanish-language acquisitions and/or are working
to build their collections (AL, May 2004, p. 11).
Resources 5
http://lcweb2.loc.gov/hlas/mdbquery.html
The Handbook is a bibliography on Latin America consisting of
works selected and annotated by scholars. Edited by the Hispanic
Division of the Library of Congress.
http://lanic.utexas.edu/project/arl/
The Latin Americanist Research Resources Partnership is a
cooperative initiative of North American, Latin American, and
Caribbean libraries that seek to improve access to the array of
research resources published in Latin America.
http://www.lib.unc.edu/cdd/crs/international/latin/pathfinder/latin
_american_pathfinder.html
Pathfinder for Latin American Reference Sources
Resources 6
Good selection resources:
http://www.spanishbooksinprint.com/bip/
default.asp?path=/bip/default.asp&path=
/bip/default.asp&path=/bip/Default.asp&
&
http://www.libraryjournal.com/index.asp?l
ayout=criticas
http://www.reformamn.org/collectiondeve
lopment.html
Resources 7
Book Reviews (specifically for
Hispanic materials):
Barahona Center for the Study of Books
in Spanish for Children and Adolescents:
http://www.csusm.edu/csb/
Multicultural Book Review:
http://www.isomedia.com/homes/jmele/h
omepage.html
Resources 8
Book Reviews (general):
Booklist:
http://www.ala.org/template.cfm?Section
=booklist
The Bulletin of the Centre for Children’s
Books
http://www.lis.uiuc.edu/puboff/bccb/
Horn Book: http://www.hbook.com/
School Library Journal:
http://www.schoollibraryjournal.com/
Resources 9
Finally, mark your calendar for the Joint
Conference of Librarians of Color, to be
held in Dallas October 11-15, 2006.
ALA's caucuses of color--Reforma, the
Black Caucus of the ALA, the
Asian/Pacific American Librarians
Association, and the American Indian
Library Association--will all join together
in this first-ever event, which promises
to be an excellent opportunity for those
serving diverse library users.
Recommendations, Questions
What are the Hispanic materials that no Library
should be without?
Are there Hispanic classics just as there are
American (USA) or British classics?
Recommendations 2
The Texas State Library’s summer reading
program
http://www.tsl.state.tx.us/ld/projects/trc/2005/index.
html
Dia de los ninos / Dia de los libros
http://www.main.org/ninos/
Lots of links from the renowned Chico HS web site
http://dewey.chs.chico.k12.ca.us/lat.html
PLCMC's StoryPlace (The Children’s Digital
Library) http://www.storyplace.org
Four Cats recommendations http://cuatrogatos.org/
Recommendations 3
The Library of Congress
http://www.loc.gov/rr/hispanic/
The American Library Association
http://www.ala.org/ala/alsc/alscresource
s/booklists/GrowingUpLatino.htm
Recommendations 4
Yokota, Junko, ed., and others.
Kaleidoscope: A Multicultural Booklist
for Grades K-8. 3rd ed. Urbana, Ill.:
National Council of Teachers of English,
2001. ISBN 0-8141-2540-9
Descriptions of almost 600 nonfiction and fiction
books focusing on African Americans, Asian
Americans, Latinos/Hispanic Americans and
Native Americans. The editor has provided a
handy list of publisher addresses, and author,
title, and subject indexes make it easy to locate
specific books or hunt for texts on a particular
theme or topic. Grades K-8
Recommendations 5
York, Sherry, The Hispanic heritage in
novels, short stories & nonfiction. Book
Report; Jan/Feb94, Vol. 12 Issue 4, p19,
5p
Persistent link (if you have access to EBSCO)
to this record:
http://search.epnet.com/login.aspx?direct=true
&db=tfh&an=9404141025
The bibliographies, contained, are not intended to be
definitive; rather, they should be viewed as a starting
place.
The recommendations are categorized as to area of
origin (Mexico, Latin America, Islands, etc…)
Recommendations 6
Lists from Librarians who collaborated
Spring Branch Classroom Library Collections
recommendations (each grade level list
contains some Spanish titles)
Spring Branch Summer Reading Lists
(contains Spanish title recommendations
from Bilingual department)
Spring Branch recommended Spanish titles
from a trip to the 18th International
Guadalajara Book Fair in Mexico (Nov. 2004)
Recommendations 7
Sources of Spanish Books (not complete)
Baker & Taylor
Sales Representative - Laurie Jones
Phone: 800.775.7930 ext: 1003
Fax: 713.660.7252
Email: jonesl@btol.com
Recommendations 8
Sources of Spanish Books (not complete)
Libros Sin Fronteras
Brodart Co., By: Nubro, Inc
500 Arch Street
Williamsport, PA 17705
Barbara Janner
5518 Blackjack Hou, TX 77088
Ph# 281-445-4503 Ph# 800-233-8467
Fax# 570-326-1479
Email: janner@brodart.com
Recommendations 9
Sources of Spanish Books (not complete)
iLeon (a division of Verticalibros, llc) (not
sure about cataloging and processing)
Reuben E. Katz
935 Genter Street Suite 203
La Jolla, CA 92037
Phone: 858-688-6106
Email: rkatz@verticalibros.com
Also can get books from: Lectorum,
Lerner, and Rosen all who were at the
Guadalajara Fair
Conclusion
Librarians are supposed to collaborate
Collaborate with your Bilingual
Department
Show them your resources
It demonstrates your attempt to meet
the needs of common clients
Sometimes they have money to help
with your cause
References
Bishop, Barry. "Library Resources
Page." Library Information Services.
29 Jun. 2005. Spring Branch
Independent School district. 30 Jun.
2005
<http://library.springbranchisd.com/libr
ary-resources/>.
References
Cuesta, Yolanda J. "From Survival to
Sophistication." Library Journal 15
May 1990: 115. :26- . EBSCO
Professional Development Collection.
Library Information Services. 11 Jun
2005
<http://search.epnet.com/login.aspx?
direct=true&db=tfh&an=9008131311>
References
Kirkham, Aileen. "A Bilingual Library
and Programming: Help! I'm Not
Bilingual." Library Media Connection
January 2003: 21. :42- . EBSCO
Professional Development Collection.
11 Jun 2005
<http://search.epnet.com/login.aspx?
direct=true&db=tfh&an=8987748>.
References
Minkel, Walter . "The Web en
Espanol." Library Journal Spring
2001: 126. :36- . EBSCO Professional
Development Collection. Library
Information Services. 11 Jun 2005
<http://search.epnet.com/login.aspx?
direct=true&db=tfh&an=4341084>.
References
Topper, Elisa M. "Working knowledge:
?como puedo servirle? ." American
Libraries Feb 2005: 50.
Congratulations!
The End