The “In Search of the American Dream – Books for Libraries” program will reach the many Latinos, particularly newly-arrived immigrants, who are in the earliest stages of their educational process. They are in search of information, a quest to discover just how they can succeed in the United States.

The program is designed to unite private and public sector efforts to provide public libraries with Spanish-language books and audiobooks that teach the life skills required to ensure personal and professional success. Life Skills titles (how-to, self-help, business) are among the most commonly requested titles by Latinos in public libraries.

In consultation with individual library systems, LIDER will assess the needs of each branch and prepare a collection to be donated to each library. The presentation of the collections will take place as part of the “In Search of the American Dream” seminar. The two-hour presentation provides specific strategies and motivation to help Hispanics to jump-start a personal action plan to achieve their goals.

The seminar is open and free to all library patrons, and is heavily promoted by the media and local Latino groups. This event creates a perfect forum for attracting Latino families to the library and announcing ongoing library programs and services available to the community.

Fact:		Missing Link
Shrinking budgets at public libraries across the country limit their ability to offer Spanish-language titles to their Latino patrons. In some libraries, although more than 80% of their community is Hispanic, less than 10% of their collection is in Spanish.		As long as Spanish-language collections continue to be underfunded and underdeveloped, there will be little to attract Latinos in disadvantaged neighborhoods into libraries to learn about the books and services available.

Objectives:

1. Expand Spanish-language Collections.

LIDER is committed to expanding Spanish-language collections with books and audiobooks that provide the positive messages, resource information and life skills necessary for personal, financial and professional success. The titles in these collections provide Latinos with free access to strategies for business, health, parenting, time-management, goal setting, etc.

2. Promote Literacy.

The impact of education on an individual’s income capacity and the nation’s economy as a whole is well proven. Literacy leads to a love of learning and local library programs teach children and parents to be better readers. Strong reading skills are the cornerstone to education and academic excellence. The audiobooks in LIDER collections allow librarians to deal with varied literacy levels in Latino communities and provide those patrons with limited time to read the means to continue their educational process.

3. Increase Library Awareness.

For decades, a false belief has been perpetuated: “Hispanics don’t read.” Sometimes this fallacy has lead people to mistakenly interpret the reason why Hispanics don’t visit libraries, or why community development, family literacy, or even citizenship programs at libraries don’t work. LIDER is a strong proponent of the “If you build it, they will come” idea. In many Latin American countries, libraries aren’t seen as a community resource, so Latinos don’t naturally seek them out for assistance. Building a broader collection and a community-based outreach program can increase patronage and circulation in public libraries.