Does your community have a large population of Spanish-speaking people? In the town of East Hampton, New York, Hispanic and Latino residents comprise 26.5 percent of the population (U.S. Census Bureau, n.d.). A side note here: for fluency of reading, the term Hispanic will be used throughout this blog to be inclusive of all Spanish-speaking cultures and countries. Department heads from the East Hampton Library have carefully considered creating or building the Spanish and bilingual book collections. Let’s dive into some thoughts they had before purchasing books for the collection.
Since we know that nearly one quarter of the population is Hispanic, the adult, young adult, and children’s departments sought patron interest through bilingual questionnaires, with two of the significant questions focusing on book topics and genres. Knowledge of the types of books that the patrons desired helped to whittle down the choices. Next, the librarians surveyed various websites, including Social Justice Books and the School Library Journal, for Spanish-only and bilingual books. Parallel text books have been popular, especially with juvenile readers.
Outreach to local churches, schools, doctors, and senior citizen centers allowed the library to share the new books in the collections and invite Hispanic residents to the library. We also worked in partnership with OLA of Eastern Long Island, a non-profit group that provides legal, health, and advocacy services to East Hampton. Many Hispanic visitors are surprised to learn that book borrowing is free, along with a multitude of programs and other resources.
For department heads to analyze whether or not the new Spanish and bilingual books were popular, they had to turn to the circulation manager for reports. It is important to consider both the pre-Hispanic book and post-Hispanic book purchasing figures. In 2024, only 143 Spanish books circulated, and year to date, this year, 396 have been borrowed, a nearly 177 percent increase! What plans does your library have for building a bilingual or multi-language collection? Is there a need in your community?
References
U.S. Census Bureau. (n.d.) County Subdivision East Hampton town, Suffolk County, New York. U.S. Department of Commerce. Retrieved September 28, 2024, from https://data.census.gov/profile/East_Hampton_town,_Suffolk_County,_N_York?g=060XX00US3610322194
Hi Maude, thanks for this post! I think bilingual collections are extremely important. We have a Spanish section and even a Russian and Hebrew section in our library due to the diverse populations. All of them can be expanded even further, so it's good to have connections and online resources that can help. I think another good step libraries can take is making sure signage and important information is available in multiple languages. At my library, we make sure signs such as "no eating" are in Spanish because many of the local nannies are Hispanic and eating has been a bigger issue in the Children's room. Also, since most of the time the nannies rather than the parents are bringing babies to programs, I think we need to make sure our program schedule and event calendar are available in multiple languages because there has been miscommunication and confusion in the past. These steps will all ensure the library is more accessible to everyone and that anticipated barriers will be broken.
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