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Hi Elizabeth,
We use signage in both languages, and word of mouth. We partner with Lincoln Land Community College and the Literacy program. They meet here once a month, therefore I tap that audience as well. This includes the computer course we are offering.
The local Spanish newspaper actually came in and interviewed my staff. It appeared in the paper over the weekend. Ricardo was approached at church with many questions regarding our library. I also, try to network with local agencies. This too is a rich source.
Hope that helped a tad bit.
Take care,
Tammy

Fort Collins Public Library--I post programs at the Mexican restaurants and stores in the community. Making announcements at the catholic churches during the Spanish mass works. We translate our website to Spanish. Having flyers of resources that are useful for the Spanish-speakers, such as, resources for ESL and GED interest them and tend to bring them back. And with no question, having a spanish book section, not shelved with the English books, brings even more Spanish-speaking patrons. And in a larger scale, having programs such as the Day of the Dead or Cinco de mayo facilitated at the library is attractive because like everyone, they love to celebrate their culture!

Jimena

T - Welcome and thanks for your post.

It is great to get the perspective of a campus library. I know that we have had participants from several community colleges attend the Spanish Language Outreach workshop. So please do post the findings from your meeting with the Latino/a Student Organization and your focus group. I know others will find this information valuable too.

You mentioned that your Adult Education department is very active in helping native Spanish speaker with their academic and practical needs. What types of services do they provide?

Laura

Hi everyone,

I'd like to point out this great thread in the Outreach Forum by Christi Williams. She has some excellent suggestions for reaching out to Spanish-speaking patrons.
http://webjunction.org/forums/thread.jspa?threadID=662&messageID=18498#18498

Laura

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

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

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

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

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

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.