Successful Outreach is Key!

Those working with Spanish-speaking communities may find that library service is not necessarily an "if you build it, they will come" situation. Just because a library develops a Spanish language collection or begins offering a bilingual storytime, it will not necessarily result in increased library use by the Spanish-speaking population. You know they are out there, you have services for them, but they still aren't using the library. What should you do?

The answer to that question is outreach! There are a variety of great resources available which discuss the necessity and benefits of library outreach to Spanish-speaking communities. To sum up a key point, public library services as we offer them in the United States are not the norm in Central and South America. It could very well be possible that your Spanish-speaking community is not using the library because they simply do not know that they can, or how to, or why they should. It is up to YOU to spread the word!

I would like to share two successful outreach endeavors which I recently engaged in, in order to promote library services to residents of the Whitehall, OH Spanish-speaking community. It is my hope that these endeavors could serve as a case study and be replicated by other libraries struggling to connect with their Spanish-speaking residents.

Partnering with an ESL teacher
During the summer of 2007 I was fortunate enough to meet Stella Villaba, an ESL teacher for the Whitehall City School District. Stella is a passionate teacher and an avid library supporter. When I first met her, she was very happy to distribute information in Spanish about the library to her students and her families. Later during the school year she approached me about putting together some type of presentation for the families of her students. She was finding that they often did not know about the variety of services available through the library, such as the Homework Help Centers and the Fresh Start program, which allows customers to read-off their fines twice a year. We decided to develop a Library Orientation and Tour. On May 11, 2008 we welcomed about 35 people to the library for a bilingual presentation which explained the basic details of how to use the library and what types of services the library has to offer. It was a huge success, which wrapped up with participants taking a tour of the library and with some getting new library cards!
This particular strategy could be replicated anywhere to bring in immigrant families who may not be aware of the library. If you are not bilingual and the language barrier is an issue, perhaps a local teacher or volunteer would be willing to translate in order to present the information bilingually. Even without the tour, making contact with local ESL teachers to let them know what services the library has to offer to support their services will likely result in that information being spread to families.


Visiting an adult ESL class
Rather coincidentally, the same week we put together the library tour, a local adult ESL teacher contacted the Whitehall library to come speak to the children of the students about Summer Reading Club. Throughout the course of this conversation it was discovered that the entire ESL class was Spanish-speaking. When the teacher learned that a Spanish-speaker was available to come talk with the students about the library she was ecstatic! The following Monday, May 13, we gave the same presentation at the adult ESL class which meets at a local church. The group of about 25 was delightful to work with. I was amazed how many questions they had which I was able to answer. The group was very enthusiastic about the library, and it has since been arranged that our Bookmobile will visit the church before the ESL class each week this summer!

At my library, due to a lack of Spanish-speaking staff, we are following a model of Spanish customer service which ALA President Dr. Camila Alire describes in her book Serving Latino Communities: A how-to-do-it manual for librarians. I have a standard shift that I work to provide customer service in different branches once a week. I saw the impact of this outreach the very next Wednesday when I was working my weekly shift in Whitehall; seven people from the presentation at the ESL class came to the library!

So get out of the building and spread the word, or find creative partnerships to invite people in! Be proactive about letting potential customers know what you have to offer them and you are likely to see them take you up on it!

Dora the Explorer on NPR

Sure, we all know that Dora is the star of a great educational television program on Nickelodeon that kids just can't get enough of, but there is so much more to learn about her! A variety of consultants help make Dora the stereotype-smashing, Spanish-speaking, pan-Latina superstar she is. Listen to this story, Me Llamo Dora, from NPR's Morning Edition to find out how Dora, her name, her style, and more came to be.

If your library is having an event for El Día de los Niños, be sure to register with the Association of Library Services to Children (ALSC) database, and receive 200 complimentary bilingual brochures featuring Dora to promote Día and literacy!

¡Canta con alegría!

I strive to incorporate Spanish movement songs into every bilingual storytime. This helps develop phonological awareness, provides an easy way to remember new Spanish words and phrases, and helps get the wiggles out of the little ones! I have found that some otherwise wonderful Spanish songs, however, are too advanced for a bilingual storytime. Those with less developed skills in Spanish have trouble following along. These are my favorite Spanish and bilingual songs which I have found to work very well in bilingual storytime.

By Dr. Jean Feldman on Ole! Ole! Ole! Dr. Jean en Español

• "Hola amigo" This is my standard opening song. Great for preschool and kindergarten children.
• "Tu ti ta" Super silly!

By José-Luis Orozco

• "Pajarito" on Canto y Cuento. Kids sing, jump, fly, eat, drink and sleep like a bird.
• "Ruedas del camión" on Diez Deditos. "Wheels on the Bus" in Spanish. Even though this song is all in Spanish, bilingual groups can follow along easily, as kids who don't understand Spanish will still recognize the song. Good idea to quickly go over the motions before starting the song.
• "El chocolate" on De Colores. Traditional rhyme from Latin America. Great for phonological awareness! I like to spell CHO-CO-LA-TE out on the feltboard before singing the chant.
• "La araña pequeñita" on De Colores. "Itsy Bitsy Spider" in Spanish. This is a nice one for toddlers too.

By Sarah Jordan on Bilingual Preschool English-Spanish
These songs are a bit of a mouthful, as they are all bilingual. However, they are great fun! These songs would probably work very well in a tandem style bilingual storytime, with one presenter singing along in each language. Or, if you are not bilingual, sing along in English and let the CD do the Spanish. This is a very low pressure way to add español to your storytime!

• "Follow the leader/Sigue al líder" Gallop like a horse, waddle like a duck, hop like a frog, and fly like a bird. Great for farm themes or to get those kids up and moving! Works best for preschool and school age kids.
• "Groovin' and Movin'/Ritmo y movimiento" Who are los chicos más animados?

Another great standby when the wiggles start creeping in is an impromptu version of "Cabeza, hombros, rodillas, pies"..."Heads, shoulders, knees and toes" in Spanish! Mix it up by going really slowly and then very fast. Don't forget the ojos, orejas, boca, nariz!

What music do you find works well in bilingual storytime? Do you also use any of these songs?

What is bilingual programming?

There are many ways to offer bilingual programs to children. Some libraries, such as the Kenton County library in Kentucky, offer bilingual storytimes using a tandem format. In this method, a programmer partners with a Spanish speaking customer or educator to provide stories in English and Spanish. They may alternate in various ways, such as reading each page first in one language and then the other. This is a great option for non-Spanish speaking programmers who serve Spanish speaking children and families. If a dedicated partner is available, such a program can be offered on a regular basis. This is also an option for large programs around holidays (such as El día de los niños). Inviting a parent to participate in such a program is a way to really involve your Spanish speaking customers in the library.

Because I speak English and Spanish, I am able to provide bilingual family storytimes solo. I use a variety of storytelling techniques in order to reinforce vocabulary in both languages. For example, I may share a draw-n-tell story mostly in English, interjecting key Spanish words which are reinforced by the drawing, repeated throughout the story, etc. Flannels also work well for reinforcing vocabulary, and are an option for stories you want to share but do not have available in a Spanish or bilingual book. I will vary the dominant language of the storytime based on the language ability of the group in attendance. However, the books and songs we use each week are always either bilingual or in Spanish.

Though speaking Spanish clearly makes it easier to offer bilingual programs, I really encourage non-Spanish speaking programmers who work with Spanish speaking families, or have large numbers of Spanish speaking residents in their service areas, to give Spanish a try in storytime. Books by Susan Middleton Elya and Ginger Foglesong Guy make it really easy; just check the pronunciation of the Spanish words ahead of time!

Do you work in a library that offers bilingual programs? How do you do it?

General Guidelines of the Blog

Seems like a necessary measure to elaborate on what is expected and what I plan to provide in this blog. Here goes:

1. In this blog, I plan to share great books and music I come across for bilingual storytimes, storytelling techniques which work well in a bilingual format, and anything else that seems useful to share with others offering bilingual storytimes in their libraries.
2. This blog is intended to be used by anyone working to cultivate a love of reading and an appreciation of language in children. I offer a library perspective, but I welcome the thoughts and experiences of teachers, parents, and others working with bilingual children as well.
3. I do not have many colleagues providing bilingual storytimes near me in Columbus, OH, so I welcome comments and feedback from colleagues in other locations. This blog will work best if it is collaborative in nature, so please share your thoughts!

Thanks for stopping by the blog...my hope is that it will be a useful tool!

¡Hola compañeros!

Hello world! I'm setting up this blog to share tips, tricks and interesting stories as I learn from my work providing bilingual (Spanish/English) storytimes for families at Columbus Metropolitan Library. Bilingual storytimes are a great way to show your Spanish speaking community that there are library staff available to help in their language! Non-Spanish speakers can also incorporate bilingual techniques in order to add cultural diversity to their programs and create a welcoming environment for their Spanish speaking customers. It is my hope that this blog will be a collaborative space to gain and share ideas related to bilingual programming and general service to Spanish speaking children and their families in the library.
In this first post, I'm including a list of links to sites which have valuable information for planning bilingual storytimes, as well as libraries which are offering unique or interesting services to their Spanish speakers.

• I attended one of the Spanish Language Outreach trainings offered by Webjunction in spring 2007. I highly recommend it! Their website is incredibily useful for any staff who work with Spanish speakers, or who have Spanish speakers in their community. Find signage, archived webinars, case studies of libraries around the country, and all the materials provided in their training by clicking their link.
• REFORMA is the National Association for Library Services to Latinos and the Spanish speaking. A lot of great information related to serving Spanish speakers in general can be found at their website. The listserv is a great source of current information. REFORMA members have also been very helpful as I've had programming questions.
• The Village branch of the Lexington Public Library has a completely bilingual staff with a variety of cool services, including bilingual storytime, homework help, and the bilingual café!