REFORMA President’s Program

1. Research At Your Service! ¡Investigaciones para servirles! Latinos & their Information Needs on Center Stage REFORMA President’s Program

2. Publication about Library Services to Latinos is Growing, from one paper in 1969 to 49 in 2012.

3. Much of that growth has been from anthologies specifically aimed at services for Latinos.

4. Since 1969, there have been 436* publications about Latino services, by 296 first authors. Twenty-three authors have produced 3 or more works.*Probably more!

5. The 436 publications had 6,703 references.

6. The word cloud below indicates the most frequently cited authors in the articles’ bibliographies.

7. This word cloud indicates the words most frequently found in the titles of materials cited in those bibliographies.

8. Patricia L. GuardiolaServing an Exploding Population: Analyzing the Information Behavior of and Resources Available to Latino Patrons, Using the Louisville Free Public Library System as a Model

9. Serving an Exploding Population:Analyzing the Information Behaviors of and Resources Available to Latino Patrons, Using the Louisville Free Public Library System as a Model Patricia L. Guardiola MLIS Student, University of Kentucky p.guardiola@uky.edu

10. Initial Questions • How can librarians assist and empower patrons if there is a language and/or cultural barrier? • What are information needs and behaviors? • What are resources? • What is there to learn from one library system in Kentucky?

11. Discovering Info Behaviors and Resources • Observations • Informal interviews • Literature reviews • Participation in Immigrant Services Committee • Outreach • Span of nearly two years, from early 2011 to late 2012

12. Demographics in Kentucky From http://www.census.gov/prod/cen2010/briefs/c2010br-04.pdf

13. Demographics in Louisville, KY • Huge increase in Latino population • Between 2000 and 2010, 160% increase (Crouch 2012) • Large immigrant populations • Bosnian, Latino, Senegalese, Vietnamese

14. Louisville Free Public Library • 18 Locations • Main Library • 2 Regional Libraries • 15 Branches • Internationals Initiative Image courtesy of lfpl.org

15. LFPL - Okolona • Bilingual Clerk (PT) • Bilingual Library Assistant (PT) • Staff turnover Images courtesy of lfpl.org

16. Information Needs & Behaviors • Patron groups or types • New immigrants • Can be greatly affected by first impression of library • Second generation • Established • Overlap

17. Information Needs & Behaviors • Common requests for native language materials • Citizenship exam prep • Computer tutorials • English learning • GED exam prep • Common patron behaviors • Bringing English-speaking child, friend, or relative • Asking bilingual staff exclusively once aware • Biblioteca vs. Librería

18. Resources at LFPL Include: • Bilingual staff • Usually part-time • Conversation Club • Catalog • Translatable interface • Immigrant Services Committee • Internet access • Employment applications

19. Outside Resources Include: • Adelante Hispanic Achievers (adelanteky.org) • Americana Community Center (americanacc.org) • Hispanic Latino Business Council (greaterlouisville.com/hlbc) • Hispanic Latino Coalition (hlcoflouisville.org) • Kentucky Refugee Ministries (kyrm.org) • Louisville Metro Office for Globalization (louisvilleky.gov/Globalization) • REFORMA Southeast (reformasoutheast.org)

20. Larger-scale Applications • Customer service and staff challenges • Online • Face-to-face • Privacy • Patience! • Broader appeal of multicultural collections • Potential for growth – classes, groups, etc.

21. Kaitlin J. PetersonIncluding the Culturally Excluded and Socially Forgotten: Information Services for Spanish Migrant Workers in the United States

22. Including the Culturally Excluded and Socially Forgotten: Information Services for Spanish Migrant Workers in the United States Kaitlin Peterson MLS ‘13

23. Anecdote: How I Became Interested in the Information Needs of Migrant Workers • The same way many of us become interested in a subject: an encounter in childhood that stuck with me • My mom the ESL Teacher vs. the Indifferent Farm Supervisor • It was not until this research that I learned that through the Federal Family Educational Right and Privacy Act of 1974, my mother and her principal were both legally capable and required to “seek out children of migrant workers eligible to receive [educational] services

24. Theoretical Framework • The theory of information worlds-developed primarily by Gary Burnett and Paul Jaeger, it builds upon previous work done by Jürgen Habermas and Elfreda Chatman. • The theory states that information behavior is shaped simultaneously by immediate influences like family and friends, as well as by larger social influences, including media, technology, etc. The theory argues that few individuals live in a very small world, except the extremely isolated • Latino migrant workers are this extremely isolated part of the population

25. Population Overview • According to the Institute of Food and Development Policy: More than two million year-round and seasonal migrant workers, including 100,000 children, work in the US • Of those two million, about two thirds are immigrants, eighty percent of which are from Mexico. • Fifty-nine percent are married, fifty two percent are parents

26. Population Overview Cont’d • 35% cannot speak English at all • Average level of completed education is grade eight; 40% have completed grades one through six • Three out of four U.S. farmworkers earn less than $10,000 annually, and three out of five live below the federal poverty line. • Twenty-five percent work fifty hours or more a week.

27. Information Needs • Education/literacy • Employment • Health • Family Planning • Home/Family • Housing • Legal Information • Political Processes • Recreation • Transportation • Welfare/Social Services • Geographic Information • Consumer Information

28. Information Barriers • Language/Literacy Skills • Isolation from society/family • Fear/Misunderstanding of Legal System • Time (lack thereof) • Lack of Transportation • Cultural Obstacles • Perceptions of Information Institutions • Lack of Access • Low Social Status

29. Latino Migrant Worker’s Information World Culture Time Perceptions Access Language Transportation Isolation Co-workers Family Law Social Status Fear Literacy

30. Library and Information Agencies: Big Picture • IFLA in Multicultural Communities Guidelines for Library Services: “libraries need to pay particular attention to the culturally diverse groups in their communities, including indigenous peoples, immigrant communities…residents with temporary stay permits, and migrant workers.” • UN Convention on the Protection of the Rights of Migrant Workers, Art. 13 from 1990: “migrant workers and members of their families shall have the right to freedom of expression; this right shall include freedom to see, receive, and impart information and ideas of all kinds”

31. Library and Information Agencies: Small Picture • The Farmworker Unit of the Legal Aid of NC: bilingual staff provide information to farmworkers through visits to labor camps in the evening, appear on Spanish language radio and tv programs • University of Washington and Department of Education partnered with Horizon’s Incorporated to create Community Technology Centers for education area’s migrant population • Fresno County Public Library (CA) Bookmobile • Miami Dade Public Library has a Hispanic branch located in the bottom part of an affordable housing complex where migrant workers live.

32. Recommendations • Bring resources to where Latino Migrant workers are: bookmobiles/mobile collections • Offer bilingual services/collections • Partner with local trusted institutions that are already working with Latino Migrant population • Develop relevant policies for Latino migrant workers, but be flexible • Always, always be an advocate

33. JimenaSagàs“Where I come from, libraries are different”: A comparative study of patron experience with libraries in Mexico and the United States

34. Where I come from libraries are different: A comparative study of patrons’ experience with libraries in Mexico and the United States JimenaSagàs, MLIS Colorado State University American Library Association Annual Conference

35. Acknowledgements • REFORMA • Library Research Round Table • You

36. Background • U.S. libraries’ historical role in serving immigrants

37. REFORMA

38. Acculturate or Assimilate? • It’s a two way street, baby!

39. A federal library system

40. A culture of reading

41. LIS Education • Colegio de Bibliotecología (Facultad de Filosofía y Letras) • http://colegiodebibliotecologia.filos.unam.mx • Courses • http://colegiodebibliotecologia.filos.unam.mx

42. Questions, questions, questions… • Users • Budgeting • Programming • Public vs. Academic • Policies • Collection development • Technology • Professional organizations • Space

43. Mixed Method • Open access information • Interviews • Patrons both in Mexico and the United States • Library professionals • Government officials

44. Conclusion • Mexico is just a start… • A process to serve people from a diversity of backgrounds