Sarah Chaar’s Service Learning in Mexico

I have been thinking over the service learning trip for the last couple days since I have been trying to explain it to so many people who have asked me about it. When I tell people that I went to Mexico to catalog books, I get a confused look for a response. Many people have asked me why a class trip would go all the way to Mexico to catalog. After I’ve explained how much of a benefit it is for the Biblioteca Publica, I find myself mentioning what an experience it was for us as students. On my day back to work, I was faced with a slew of tasks from ordering this month’s books to answering reference questions via email when it occurred to me how different library operations had been in Mexico where picking up a wireless signal had taken hours. The experience of seeing and working within an international library not only was rewarding and gratifying but also allowed me a perspective on my own library and work. In 801, we often talked about paradigm shifts and the different “lenses” people look through. This trip to Mexico has given me not only a knowledge of cataloging but also one more lens to view the world through.

The last required reading was Well’s article, “Got Authorities? Why Authority Control is Good for your Library”. At first reading, I thought, huh? what did I learn from my cataloging class, but after a second time through, it’s all began to sink in. If I understand this article correctly, I am a huge proponent of authority control. When I was younger, I was a closet historical fiction reader. It wasn’t very cool back then (probably still isn’t), so in order to find similar books, I early on found that by looking up a book I liked I came up with search terms. This helped to fuel my reading for quite some time. Now, I constantly use authority when we do displays in the children’s section. For example, we just went on a mad mission for “fall” books. A simple keyword search through the catalog gave us maybe ten books. Using authority control and following different paths has given us three times that number where “fall” wasn’t in the title or brought up in a search. I think the most important idea though is to have a catalog that makes it easy to see authority controls. For patrons to use them, they must be clear and easy to follow or to return to.

My library recently switched our online catalog. Now, we get a word cloud to the side that gives other possible search terms. I am not sure how well received it has been, but it will be interesting in the following months to hear various reactions. My personal favorite was when I typed in cook book (accidentally separating the two words), and my word cloud provided my patron and me with the new search term, “cock.”
Even in the children’s department, we had a good laugh.

While reading the last few chapters of the required textbook, I found the most beneficial part to be about recruiting Latinos to work in the library. I often think about what opportunity many of the bilingual children that come to the library have, but this textbook put some things in perspective. Often, how job postings are written can deter possible bilingual or minorities from applying. I began thinking about how positions are posted within my library, and I noticed all talk about computer skills and library skills. I wonder if this keeps certain groups from applying. Also, all of our positions are only posted online. This seems to be a barrier too even though I know many libraries and other institutions probably do the same.

On a broader scheme, it also seems that librarians do not try to encourage children to become librarians. I remember one personal example when a little girl who loved talking to all the library employees, came up and was telling us how she wanted to be a librarian when she grew up. Our manager turned and told her, “Oh, you are much too talkative and social to be a librarian; you should think of something else.” While this is just one example, it does seem that librarians should encourage youth who like the library to entertain the possibility. This may be a more grassroots way to encourage bilingual children and other groups who come into the library to see it as a possible career.

I took a break from reading the textbook and decided to read one of the articles, “Spanish Spoken Here” by Todd Douglas Quesada. The article had me questioning how fully the library should take a role in certain issues. I recall earlier in my library schooling using a book called An Active Instrument for Propaganda: The American Public Library during World War I by Wayne A. Wiegand. A section of essays in this article discussed how public libraries reacted to the American fear of Germans and other ethnic groups during the early 1910’s and became an active force in propaganda. Many of the programs at these libraries were funded by the national government and ultimately took some control away from the public library. The main goal was Americanization, so these groups would support the war. Reading articles like Quesada’s makes me think back to this time because a similar issue has arrived. What role should the library play in assimilation if any today? Should they encourage people to learn English as a way towards not only assimilation but probably more economic opportunity? I don’t see an easy answer, but I see the need to continue to provide for each library’s specific community. If this means providing books in Spanish or Cantonese, then the library needs to strive to meet these needs. In a way, I see that by just providing materials in whatever language, we are doing a positive part in “assimilation” since we are introducing people to a community institution that’s goal is to serve the people. The library demonstrates how some institutions are there to provide aid and help groups in whatever their particular goal.

Wow, after reading the Chapter 5 and 6 in Serving Latino Communities, I’m pretty amazed at the amount of program and outreach ideas. I really liked a lot of the adult program ideas because they seemed so practical. I know my library system does ESL classes at various locations, but I have never seen any type of immigration program. This seems like such a good idea in helping people through an extremely difficult process. I noticed that one program said they worked with two immigration lawyers. How cool! It made me think of how some libraries have tax help during the beginning part of the year. This often brings in all types of new people who may not have visited the library, and they leave knowing where the library is, getting a feel and seeing the great things a library offers.

I wonder if by providing seminars with lawyers and other well-educated professionals if this could bring in people and serve as an introduction to the library’s services. My only concern would be if it holds the library accountable at all if bad advice is given or anything. I know in terms of taxes at the library, the library made sure to explain how the people were not affiliated with the library but instead came there to offer free service. If possible though, I think this could be a way to also reach out to any undocumented immigrants and show them that they can still get library cards and use the library. There has been little mention of how to overcome this issue in the textbook, and in my particular community, I know the library requires all types of ID to register, which can dissuade some groups from using the library.

I have continued reading the Serving Latino Communities text and was pretty overwhelmed by chapter four. The amount of work that is taken just to establish need seems tremendous. The thought that kept going through my mind is once need has been established, will that be enough? I found this article, “No Mas: Library Nixes Spanish Fiction,” which explains how after some angry citizens banned against the Spanish books saying it may support “illegal immigrants” any further budget was pulled from this section. From my understanding, the library director was also fired by the board not long after for trying to support the needs of this group. It is interesting to see how even with librarians pushing for change, the community must be in full support also. While this article was published two years ago, it seems some communities are still resisting these changes. I feel quite fortunate that I work for a system that provides many language collections from Spanish to Chinese, and a library that caters specifically to our Latino population.

I have just began to read the required readings for our service learning class. I find the text book to be extremely informative so far. From just reading the first couple chapters, the main idea I have seen is how Latinos may make up a group, but there are all types of groups within this one. To lump all Latinos into one group can at times be offensive and does not provide an accurate picture of the demographics. I have discovered this also at the library where I work and the people I interact with. Often, Latinos want to clarify where they are from or where their family is from – this is more specifically their culture. The difference between the countries is something to be proud of, and the food, music and other cultural aspects are just as varied as in other parts of the world.

Also, after reading the chapter about building a case for Latinos in a library, I decided to check out the census records on my library’s city, which is Kansas City, Missouri. The statistics were interesting to me. First, I found out that Kansas City only has a population of 60% whites compared to the national average of over 75% in 2000. The Latino population was only listed at around 7%, which is well below the national average. Of course, this census is now over eight years, so I’ll be interested to see how they change. I was surprised at how easily these statistics and other more specific ones about specific populations could be obtained. I think that I’ll have to start looking at these more regularly.