Re: How are you marketing to your Spanish-speaking patrons?

2006-09-21T20:02:04Z

Hi Regina,

This is a great website. I especially liked the page of common Spanish phrases/vocabulary/conversations- http://www.sol-plus.net/plus/survspa/toc.htm

It is so helpful that this site focuses on serving Spanish speakers in a library environment. Thanks again for sharing!

Sarah

Re: How are you marketing to your Spanish-speaking patrons?

2006-09-20T20:11:00Z

The site www.sol-plus.net is a great help for creating Spanish library materials.

Re: How are you marketing to your Spanish-speaking patrons?

2006-08-16T13:45:01Z

Hi All,

I promised Laura I would get back to everyone about our marketing efforts at
Gwinnett County Public Library.

It is very beneficial to keep programming efforts going even if initial attendance at programs is low. A lot depends upon the energy you spend building relationships with other service provider and with your clientele. Of course, we all have SO MUCH extra time for this...but it is a crucial element in our small successes at GCPL.

Keep the schedule of programs going even if the turn out is low. Strive to create a high quality experience for each training program.

We have just completed another series of "People and Stories/Gente y Cuentos". at GCPL. We had a low turn out, but at the end of one session an attendee upon receiving her certificate of completion said, "I have never received a certificate in my life...thank you! thank you! thank you!"

Gwinnett County Public Library staff are currently planning our first SLO Training program sessions. We hope to build our audiences through contacts from the
"People and Stories/Gente y Cuentos" attendees.

Slowly but surely, we are planning to be successful!

Karen

Re: How are you marketing to your Spanish-speaking patrons?

2006-05-16T20:39:16Z

Hi Karen,

It is great to hear that you are venturing into the Spanish Language Press. Reaching out to the Spanish Language Media can have a tremendous impact.

I know that in Seattle the library contacted one of the Spanish radio stations and they were able to develop a partnership that led to SPL having a weekly call in show on the station.

Please keep us posted on the response you receive in your community.

Laura

Re: How are you marketing to your Spanish-speaking patrons?

2006-05-08T19:08:13Z

Hi Elizabeth,

We deliver flyers to the Latin American Assn. that has offices in the general vacinity of our library.

There are several of us that speak "spanglish" and are less and less tentative about doing more that just checking out materials to Hispanic customers!
We also have great partnerships with the schools in our community and deliver information to all of them.

We will be submitting information to Spanish radio stations and newspapers in the near future!

We are confident that these combined efforts will result in more visits from Spanish speaking customers!

Karen Harris, Diversity Coordinator; Gwinnett County Public Library

Re: How are you marketing to your Spanish-speaking patrons?

2006-04-28T20:29:11Z

Another WJ staffer passed along this link to a website:
http://hispansource.org/

I haven't had time to browse the site in depth but it claims to offer the latest research, latest trends, and information you need to "capture" the Hispanic/Latino market. I think it is always interesting to keep an eye on how the corporate world's take on things.

Laura

Re: How are you marketing to your Spanish-speaking patrons?

2006-04-26T15:51:33Z

Marketing was a question that arose throughout the workshop - well before it was presented. The suggestions that have been offered in this forum will be useful for my next workshop. I really enjoyed the simplified - where the Latino Community pays, prays and plays marketing method.

Thanks for the support via discussion.

Rachel

Re: How are you marketing to your Spanish-speaking patrons?

2006-03-16T23:20:12Z

Attend an Infopeople workshop. It's great!

Pat

Re: How are you marketing to your Spanish-speaking patrons?

2006-03-13T17:38:27Z

Wow! Great work ikalett! You all are really taking advantage of every possible opportunity for getting the word out.

You really do "make information accessible anywhere this population needs it."

And I especially like the joint project, with mothers taking Spanish computer classes, while the children attend storytime. It reminded me of the idea that libraries in Chile are using to bring mothers into the library. They provide mother's day cards for the kids to give their moms that entitle them to a free computer class at the library. It's a great way to show that the library is a welcoming place for all, and that we care about everyone's learning opportunities.

Keep up the good work and keep us all posted with the progress on the citizenship class. And for anyone else providing such classes, let us know what works!

Re: How are you marketing to your Spanish-speaking patrons?

2006-03-11T16:01:16Z

Broward County Library-! Sorry I have not posted in a little while. I have read some of the wonderful suggestions by everyone in the forum, and I am happy to report that we have tried many and are inspired to try some of the suggestions you all have made.
We have achieved great and increasing results in our work with Hispanic Unity, a superb local organization serving newcomers in many areas. They are our neighbors (Stirling Road Library), but are working with other library branches and Main. What has worked? I send an early attachment by e-mail to their office about all our relevant programming, especially our Spanish computer classes.
I also make sure to take to them copies of the monthly "Bookings," our library system's magazine listing all library activities. Our cooperation has increased twofold. First, they send us a big group of computer students (about 21 sign up). They also send us students for our ESL English Cafe (every Thursday night).
We are also working on an Citizenship class which they have requested.
We have made presentations about the library at their service locations. For example, our children's librarian and I had the opportunity to present a sample of what the Library can do for the newcomers, including a sample children's bilingual program. As a consequence, mothers and many of their children came on a Saturday for a joint project at the Stirling Road Branch Library: The mothers took the Spanish computer class, while the children went to the Youth Department for Storytime.
One benefit, has been an increase in the number of library cards to our Spanish-speaking population. As they become confortable and informed about the many free services of the library, they realize the tremedous advantage of a library card.
We hope to increase our relationship with this and other groups serving the Spanish-speaker, and many of other departments of the library (Outreach-Hispanic Coordinator) are also presenting series of programs at many libraries to make information accessible anywhere this population needs it.

Re: How are you marketing to your Spanish-speaking patrons?

2006-02-15T23:52:05Z

Kathy,

Pay, Pray, and Play - What a great way to think about targeting places to reach out to the Spanish speaking community! I have heard several people talk about the 4 F's of marketing (free, food, family, and fun) but the 3 P's are new to me.

Thanks for posting.
Laura

Re: How are you marketing to your Spanish-speaking patrons?

2006-02-07T14:19:18Z

HI Elizabeth,

In addition to the strategies already recommended, we found that advertising in areas where target audiences pay (ie. bodegas), pray ( churches with Spanish speaking masses), and play (ie. soccer ) is very effective. Also forming relationships with key people ( stop in and purchase food in bodegas and spanish restaurants and get to know the owner and workers; meet with the local priest to enlist his help in reaching your target audience; etc) in these areas is another beneficial activity.

Kathy

Re: How are you marketing to your Spanish-speaking patrons?

2005-07-26T18:33:08Z

Tim,

It is great to hear from you and to hear that your library is planning such a wonderful event! It sounds like the initial partnership you began developing with your campus Latino/a group is really paying off.

I hope the festival goes well. Please keep us posted and if you develop any marketing materials for the event we would love to have you post samples here.

Laura

Re: How are you marketing to your Spanish-speaking patrons?

2005-07-26T13:30:05Z

Hi All,

Since I last posted, my library (Kishwaukee College) has been planning a "fall fiesta" event to kick off the semester in September. The festivities correspond to Hispanic Heritage Month (Sept. 15 - Oct. 15), so we are working with the college's Hispanic Services Committee, and will soon be meeting with students from Latinos Unidos, the campus Hispanic heritage group.

Our events will be concentrated in the week of Sept. 19. So far, I have booked a flamenco dancer and guitarist to come and perform on Sept. 21.; some of the Adult Education staff at the college have connections with students from Spain, and are looking into having some authentic Spanish food.

I am heading a committee with two fellow library staff members to plan library-specific events for the week. We hope to have some kind of workshop for Spanish speakers with a translator; this may even be just a reading day for kids, so folks can bring their families (we're remembering the four "f's": food, family, fun, and free).

One of the neat things we're planning is to have some temporary Spanish signage in the library, labeling common items like chairs, tables, stairs, computers, etc. This will likely be part of a "scavenger hunt," in which participants will find all the items in order to enter a raffle and win prizes. We think this will be a nice educational event for the campus.

Well, that's what I have so far. There are more meetings ahead, and we are excited about this opportunity to expand our services to native Spanish speakers.

Tim

Re: How are you marketing to your Spanish-speaking patrons?

2005-06-08T20:01:35Z

Laura,
Sorry I haven't replied to this message until now.My cinco de Mayo celebration was a great success for us. We get about 14 or more people. We Introduce our Spanish collection, and also give a tours thru the Library, and show the others section in the Library. We translate our Library card in Spanish , and they fill them out the aplication. When we finished with the tours, we talked about Cinco de Mayo, we also asked some questions, and have a door prize. We ate the delicious food, and listening music. Everybody said that they really have a good time, and they can't wait to have the Library card to go and check out some videos, and some books.

Re: How are you marketing to your Spanish-speaking patrons?

2005-06-08T16:40:14Z

Carol,

Congratulations on your grant. It sounds like your program is capitalizing on several of the 4 F's of outreach: Family, Fun, Food, & Free. Please keep us posted on how the activities are going and if possible post any of the materials you develop for the program. It sounds like a great model that other libraries could also utilize!

I also want to point out that we've added a new area in the Services to Spanish Speakers area on WJ dedicated to Marketing Resources. There are several new articles and excerpts of a new ALA editions book by Susannah Mississippi Byrd on Marketing to Spanish-Speaking customers. http://webjunction.org/do/Navigation?category=10831

Laura

Re: How are you marketing to your Spanish-speaking patrons?

2005-06-08T13:20:48Z

Congrats Carol to the library! I am glad they won the Penny Severns grant.
Wish you all the best with the summer program. Sent the info you requested yesterday.
Tammy Dobonye

Re: How are you marketing to your Spanish-speaking patrons?

2005-06-08T03:46:44Z

We were most fortunate to receive word at the end of May that our literacy program received a Penny Severns Family Literacy Grant for the summer at our small, rural-based library that has a growing area ESL population. We are using Dora, the bilingual Spanish/English cartoon character, as the primary vehicle to encourage families to read. Timing has really been great for the immediate application of the information from the workshop and to this grant program.

First, I personally invited each Spanish family to participate in this summer grant. It helped that they knew me and although hesitant, decided to try coming. We have 2 families coming with 2-3 more coming after the first night. The first night was an activity night that introduced the library to children and families and allowed them to return home with books to keep and books checked out (all now have library cards.) We read Dora's Backpack with the children identifying the things the backpack held that Dora needed to get across the bridge and river to go to the library. It was a hit!! These activities were all well-received and will help get the word out by word of mouth (a powerful marketing tool in the Spanish community) to encourage other families to come. It was good to see my most doubt-filled Mom eager to return for Wednesday night's separate parent (reading and writing enhancement) and children (reading enrichment) activities.

Carol Little

Re: How are you marketing to your Spanish-speaking patrons?

2005-06-01T18:42:32Z

Laura,

Sorry I haven't replied to this until now. Our Adult Education Department provides services such as ESL courses, a Spanish GED program, and tutoring. The department is very in touch with the Spanish-speaking community; one staff person is Chilean, and serves as advisor to the on-campus Latino/a heritage group. She also has volunteered to help us with translating signage and library handouts. It is great to have these folks available to help us.

Tim

Re: How are you marketing to your Spanish-speaking patrons?

2005-05-11T16:33:08Z

Amy -

Thanks for sharing with us the things your library is doing to reach out to Spanish speakers. If you have copies of fliers you are posting in Spanish and English, please post them to the message boards! I also wondered if you would share with us any changes you have seen in the number of Spanish speakers since you implemented these strategies.

BTW - how did your Cinco de Mayo celebration go? It sounds like it included the all important 4 Fs of outreach - Food, Free, Family, and Fun.

Regards,
Laura