Lowrider Librarian

I hope your Spring is springing. I wanted to ask you all to consider volunteering to be on your state's LSTA Grant advisory boards. I am currently the chair of the Oregon LSTA Advisory council. My place on the council give me a voice that I can use to represent others who are not at the table. There have been many times already where I was able to make an argument that would have not been made (concerning Latino issues) if I had not been there. If we take our places on these and other committees that have a say in where money goes, then more Latino programming may get funded. At the very least, we can represent where we are not represented already. We can create change, we can lead from anywhere we are and we can help one another be strong.

How do we get kids to read--especially those that appear to not be interested in reading?  Reading!  The answer is:  find relevant material that the reader can empathize with and that the reader can understand.   Back cover of book An adventure making something out of the best of what you have is something ANY kid can empathize with, but the subject matter is most definitely something young Chicanos can relate to and understand.  Cars, space, excitement and fun make this dynamic story a great read young readers.   This is not to stereotype young Chicanos, we are far more diverse than lowriders, but many of us grew up in Lowrider Culture and love and understand this culture.   The language and characters are fantastic, but rooted in Chicanismo.   Cathy Camper and Raul The Third have developed friendly, characters who speak much of the vernacular I grew up with as a 3rd generation Chicano in CA.   ...

As I sit here typing I am getting Tweets via Tweetdeck from a variety of Hispanic/Latino contacts among others. What I want to point out here is that there is an already thriving Digital Latino community, but it will be growing exponentially in the next few years. For a long time I have been reading articles that state we need to bridge the digital divide by providing Internet access in libraries and communities. While this is still true, we had better start thinking about those Latinos who are already online and who will be coming online shortly. In 1997 the Pew Report Latinos Online stated that "just one in three Latinos who speak Spanish go online. While this may have been true in 1997 surely the numbers have grown today. The Pew Study also mentions access via phones for Spanish speakers. This has truly been a growing market; with many Hispanics I know using more than one device to access the Internet and the Web. When creating digital content please remember to include...