Common Sense

I started my course readings with Serving Latino Communities: A How-To-Do-It Manual for Librarians (2nd edition) by Camila Alire and Jacqueline Ayala. Most of the first chapter was a reiteration of information that I already knew. I did appreciate the recommendation that if you have a question about Latino identity that you should simply ask. I was reminded of my recent conversation with two Linus Pauling Middle School (Corvallis, OR) Latino students. After they told me they lived closer to another school, but chose to attend Linus Pauling I asked "why." One of the student's simple response was "they respect us here." When building relationships so much can be accomplished by simply showing respect.

I was a little discouraged by the chapter on "Building a Case for Serving Latinos." A large part of the chapter seemed to promote the demeaning suggestion that libraries need to serve Latinos, so that they can be employed. Earlier in the book it mentions that a large number of Latino children are born in the United States (p. 14). These children and their parents are a part of our community and deserve high quality resources. One important thing to remember, though, is that a quality resource is not the same for everyone. I don't read science fiction, but that doesn't mean the library shouldn't have it. I also don't read in Spanish, but should the library carry books in Spanish (and not just self-help books)? Absolutely!! It may be naive, but I'd rather argue for services to Latinos by supporting equality.