1.5 Selection
1.5.1 Selection of Spanish language materials should follow the established procedures for collection development. Consult general and specialized evaluation tools.
1.5.2 In addition to Spanish review publications and popular Spanish periodicals, regularly review Spanish language resources, listservs, Web sites, and other Internet resources to identify potential materials to include in the collection.
1.6 Use of Vendors in Acquiring Spanish-language Titles
1.6.1 Carefully select and evaluate vendors that supply Spanish language materials. Take into consideration the country of origin and communities served. As part of the process for acquiring Spanish language materials, develop good professional relationships with vendors and continually explore different options and services. Support local Spanish language bookstores and consider them important sources of information and materials. Select and evaluate bookstores and their services on an ongoing basis.
1.7 Promoting Support for the Spanish-language Collection through Gifts and Donations
1.7.1 Work with local community groups in selecting, acquiring, evaluating and weeding Spanish language collections. Encourage local support through gifts, exchanges and donations to the collection. When evaluating these items, consider the formally established criteria included in a gifts and donations policy statement. Apply normal selection criteria when determining whether to add gifts and donations to the collections. Include those materials not appropriate for the collection in book sales, exchanges or donations to other libraries or organizations that serve Spanish-speaking communities.
1.8 Evaluating Spanish-language Collections
1.8.1 Criteria used in evaluating Spanish language collections should be consistent with review and maintenance policies of the library.
2.0 Programs, Services, and Community Relations
In keeping with the ALA policy supporting multilingual services, carefully select the language used for programming and services (bilingual or Spanish only) as well as regional linguistic characteristics of vocabulary, accent, and nuance. Choices should reflect the characteristics of the local community.
2.1 Diversity of Culture
2.1.1 To understand the composition and needs of the target populations, develop a profile of the Spanish-speaking communities the library intends to serve. Federal census data, state government statistics, and interviews with local leaders, local residents, and other community organizations will assist in the development of the community profile. A meaningful community profile will include such information as gender, age, level of education, language skills and country of origin.
2.2 Programs
2.2.1 Traditional and non-traditional creative programming effectively attracts and meets the needs of Spanish-speaking communities. Because of limited resources available for services to the Spanish-speaking community within any given institution, libraries serving the target population should cooperate with local community groups. Such cooperation may include the sharing of program costs, cooperative acquisitions, or joint (reciprocal) borrowing privileges, to name but a few.
2.2.2 Programs developed to provide library orientation or service should recognize bias by social and economic forces present among this group such as immigration or transient aspects of labor.
2.2.3 The Spanish-speaking populations served may consist of a mix of economic and social factors that combine to form a very diverse culture. Each represented culture must be considered in the development of programming and should be accurately reflected in the program content.