Posted on 09/05/2005 12:01:31 AM PDT by Crackingham
On a rainy Saturday, Miereya Gomez thumbed through a book while her two young sons carried comic books to their father in the children's section of this city's Central Public Library.
"We come here mostly for the kids, for books and movies - educational and entertainment - in Spanish and English," Ms. Gomez said.
As the Spanish-speaking population has grown in the United States, libraries have tried to keep pace by stocking up on books, magazines and movies in Spanish. In some places, however, critics say taxpayer money should not be spent on a population that can include illegal immigrants or on proposals that promote languages other than English. In Denver, where the foreign-born population tripled between 1990 and 2000, largely because of Mexican immigrants, the public library system is considering reorganizing some of its branches to emphasize bilingual services and material.
Similar efforts have been taken by libraries across the country, from the Queens Library in New York City, whose Web site is offered in English, Spanish, Chinese, French, Russian and Korean, to the large Chinese-language collection at the San Francisco Public Library. And it is not just the nation's biggest cities.
"The interest is in rural areas and cities that aren't the usual Spanish areas, like New York or Miami, but in North Carolina, Illinois and the Midwest," said Carmen Ospina, editor of Critica, a magazine for librarians that highlights Spanish-language material.
Ms. Ospina said questions about starting Spanish-language collections have come from librarians in Belton, Mo.; Nashville, Ga.; and towns she had never heard of.
"It's definitely a growing trend," said Carol Brey-Casiano, former president of the American Library Association.
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
Bienvenidos a Amexica. Oprima el numero dos para Ingles.
Reading is good in any language. My library has many great books for the various ethnic groups and its definitely helpful for integration into society.
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