ASCLA announces online course for librarians serving Latinos

Contact: Eileen Hardy


Marketing Specialist


312-280-4398

For Immediate Release


February 14, 2006

ASCLA announces online course for librarians serving Latinos

CHICAGO—The Association of Specialized and Cooperative Library Agencies (ASCLA), a division of the American Library Association (ALA), will offer its first online course, “Selecting Spanish-Language Materials for Adults,” in spring 2006. Yolanda J. Cuesta, with more than 25 years experience as a trainer and independent consultant specializing in helping libraries serve diverse communities, will teach the four-week course to be held April 17, 2006 to May 15, 2006.

Hispanics accounted for about one-half of the national population growth of 2.9 million between July 1, 2003 and July 1, 2004, according to data published by the U.S. Census Bureau. This ASCLA course is designed to provide training to librarians trying to meet the growing demand for Spanish-language books and materials.

It is an introductory course to help public library staff learn the basics of developing a Spanish-language collection. The course will start out by exploring the diversity of the Latino community with practical information on how to work with the community to identify needs. The special challenges in applying standard selection criteria to Spanish-language materials will be discussed along with how the differences in Spanish-language publishing have an impact on the selection process. The course will cover the major issues and techniques in selecting and working effectively with a reliable, quality distributor to build the collection.

The registration cost is $130 for ASCLA members, $160 for ALA members, $190 for non-ALA members and $100 for students and retirees.

For more information about the course please visit:
www.ala.org/ala/ascla/asclaevents/professionaldevelopmentonlinea/prodevonline.htm.