Area public libraries make efforts to attract Hispanics
Nobody’s sure, of course, but there are probably about 50,000 Hispanics in the Birmingham area; the mayor’s office says it’s the sixth-fastest-growing Hispanic community in the country. When I was up there (about four years ago) there was almost nothing in the main Birmingham library intended for Spanish readers.
Oddly, there doesn’t seem to be a comment from the Hoover Public Library, which is within walking distance of the largest concentration of Hispanics in the state. They’re really good there, so I assume they have it covered.
1 response so far ↓
Susan // October 27, 2004 at 9:46 pm
Once again, I add my comment for posterity (at least until the dryer clicks off).
As a weekly patron of the Hoover branch, I can attest that they have it covered. Not only are there books written in Spanish, there are displays in Spanish (my Spanish is limited to “Bush no es bueno,” but they must have a native speaker on staff, because they look really well written), children’s books written in Spanish, ESL books in Spanish, and movies in Spanish (definitely VHS, possibly DVD’s). More importantly, I almost always see Hispanic people in there checking them out.