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Iowa Library Ends Hispanic Outreach PositionThe Musser Public Library in Muscatine, Iowa, discontinued its Hispanic-outreach coordinator position April 27 due to a lack of funding, drawing concern from some residents who worry that library use by Hispanics, which had surged in the two years since the position was created, will be negatively affected.The coordinator—whose duties included selecting Spanish-language materials, translating children’s storytimes, organizing an annual Hispanic festival, answering reference questions in Spanish, and providing general help to Hispanic patrons—offered “a very valuable service to our community, not only for Hispanics but Muscatine as a whole,” said Library Director Peter Press. “It was simply that we ran out of funding.” After being approached by the library board, Monsanto, an international agribusiness with a local plant, agreed to fund the part-time position in 2003 at $16,000 annually for its two-year start-up period, the Muscatine Journal reported May 10. Tom Hanifan, president of the Friends of the Library, told the paper that organizations often provide funds for pilot programs, but the challenge is finding funds to continue them. So far, he said he hadn’t received a commitment from any of the local charities he’d contacted about continuing the program. Ending the program “puts a lot of projects in jeopardy,” said Marco Adasme, director of the New Iowan Center, a group that helps new residents with job placement, language training, and legal assistance. “Lack of funding is something everyone is going through, but this position at the library is something that should be going all the time to keep in touch with the Latino community.” Posted May 13, 2005. |
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