(Re)Building Latina/o Outreach: Steps to Engaging Your Community
After attending my first Pura Belprè Celebration last year at Annual, I promised myself to attend more sessions and events which revolved around my culture. On Thursday at PLA 2018, I attended a great session called (Re)Building Latina/o Outreach: Steps to Engaging Your Community. What was great about the presentation was that many of the suggestions didn’t only apply to the Latino community – they applied to all types of cultures we might be serving in our spaces.
The presenter, Miguel Ruiz, talked about bringing a librarians interactions with patrons and community members from “transactional to relational.” In order to really understand the needs of our Latino community, we have to make connections with these patrons- we have to build relationships. He talked about “organizing;” Who are the leaders in the Latino community? What could they bring to the table in your libraries? And by “leaders,” I loved that he did not only mean individuals in politics or those in highly ranked positions. Miguel made sure to say community leaders are teachers in our schools, community leaders are our social workers, guidance counselors, parents, and caretakers. Our leaders are those with passion who have strong opinions and voices. I appreciated that he moved us from asking, “What can my library do to help this (insert any type) community?” to “How can we use the existing assets and resources in this community to make our presence more known?” “How can the Latino community help us?” It doesn’t always need to be one-sided.
Miguel presented us with some questions to think about:
– What have we done to engage our Latino community?
– Who has led or participated in engagement efforts?
– What community services exist for Latino residents?
– How has the library connected with these services?
Since I started working with ALSC, I’ve been able to see so many parallels between the work you do in your libraries and the work that I’ve done with the YMCA- and I LOVE it! Miguel brought up partnering with local organizations like the YMCA to help spread your libraries resources. He said there are three goals we should try and hit when building connections: 1. Call and Email 2. Meet 3. Follow-Up.
He explained that making the initial phone call or sending the first email could be intimidating, but, just like the Y, the library is a community hub. As a former employee of another non-profit, I can assure you that non-profits are also looking to connect and partner with other community orgs and local businesses. Your local YMCA or Boys & Girls Club offers after school programs, preschool, and summer camps. Some also offer citizenship classes, GED courses, and computer classes. You would probably be surprised at what these other spaces offer just like they would be surprised to learn what you offer. SO REACH OUT! See how you and your community orgs can work together, what can you offer them? What can they offer you? and how can you ALL, together, help serve your communities better?
I also thought it was great that he explained how he developed a community group of about 30 members who meet once a month and they email each other resources and flyers for upcoming events. It made me think of ALSC-L and how you all connect and share resources and ideas on our listserv. It’s mind blowing (really..I keep saying this because it’s true) to read your messages that come in every day and how you are so willing to help each other. If you are not subscribed, please do so here.
This session also sparked some Día thoughts for me.
Día is an ALSC initiative that aims to connect children and families of all backgrounds to diverse books, resources, languages, and cultures. It’s coming up on April 30th. Have your library host a program! Partner with a local organization or business to make it even more successful – it’s a perfect time to try out some of these partnering tips. If your library is hosting a program or plans to host a program, register it on our site so your community members can know!
Some quotes I jotted down from the session:
“There is no 1 type of Latino community.”
“We can’t be all things to all people.”
“Community engagement should be strategic.”
“Not all Latinos are immigrants and not all immigrants are Latinos.”
Have you created successful partnerships? Do you have additional tips on how to get them started? Please share in the comments!