REFORMA Colorado 2018 Conference Agenda

La alfabetización digital: una herramienta para celebrar la diversidad, presented by Ludy Rueda and Karol de Rueda

Description: Una de las tareas del Departamento de Servicios Comunitarios del Distrito Público Bibliotecario Poudre River (PRPLD) es la alfabetización digital, la cual tiene como objetivo enseñar y evaluar los conceptos y habilidades básicos de la informática
para que las personas puedan utilizar la tecnología en la vida cotidiana y desarrollar nuevas oportunidades sociales y económicas para ellos, sus familias y sus comunidades.

En esta presentación, se analizarán algunos de los programas digitales para niños y adultos implementados en el Departamento, los cuales, además de alfabetizar digitalmente a sus participantes por medio de diversas tecnologías, incrementan la ciudadanía digital, la seguridad en línea y el conocimiento de otras culturas y formas de vida alrededor del mundo.

El “Programa Pelícano” proporciona un espacio seguro para crear amistades entre alumnos del distrito escolar de Fort Collins y alumnos del Colegio Británico de Tehuacán en México. Este programa de intercambio utiliza la versión Penpal y además una versión moderna conocida como “Keypal” donde los niños se comunican usando medios electrónicos como Google Hangouts y SeewSaw.

Around the World Bilingual Fun, presented by Kathy Klatt

Description: “It makes us feel more included” said one of my bilingual parents one evening after Bilingual Story time. There are two really good reasons to attend a bilingual story time: If you speak the language you may want to attend and enjoy a story time in your native language – if you don’t speak the language you may want to attend to expose your children to a different culture and language. So basically Bilingual Story time is for everyone. I will share the success of our 2 day Día de los Niños-Día de los
Libros celebration which included 13 story times in 9 different languages, science, dance, and cultural crafts from around the world. Waiting a whole year to celebrate Día didn’t make any sense, so we now have a monthly bilingual story time. I will share planning information and what I learned while coordinating our 1st Annual Día de los Niños celebration.

¡Ayudame! How to rescue programs and help them thrive, presented by Paola Vilaxa and Simone Groene-Nieto, Jefferson County Public Library

A step by step guide to evaluating programs and making a unique rescue plan. In this session you’ll solo workshop a struggling program at your library, get insightful feedback, learn a tried and true holistic evaluation method and see a showcase of how this method has played out in Jefferson County Public Library’s programs for Spanish speakers.   

Best Practices in Building a Foundation for a Successful EDI Initiative in Your Library, presented by Viviana Casillas and K.D. Hubbard

Description: Equity, diversity and inclusion (EDI) should be foundational in providing service to all the communities the library profession serves. Many times we view service as outward focused, but true service starts with an infrastructure that’s not only
philosophically equitable, diverse, and inclusive but one whose practice is connected to a strong EDI initiative that has an internal as well as an external focus. Some questions to ponder “What is your internal narrative?” How diverse and inclusive is your organization internally? How does your organization define Diversity and Inclusion? What is the temperature of your internal culture, are there microaggressions that need to be addressed? Is your executive board diverse and inclusive? When
you promote within who gets the promotions? How are you fostering and developing leadership within your organization?

There are not many public libraries that have strategic initiatives about EDI to support a diverse and inclusive internal organizational structure. The Denver Public Library (DPL) developed a leadership academy program to train and develop leaders in their organization. Part of the work these individuals are required to do is to select a project that will help achieve the library’s goals, and support its initiatives. Our team enthusiastically agreed to work on DPL’s diversity and inclusion initiative. This presentation will include an overview of our process in our year of research on hiring an EDI consultant, and best practices and other strategies for success in EDI in a public library setting. Join us as we share our findings and suggestions that we presented to our library’s executive team.

Connection and Exploration through Virtual Reality, presented by Kaela Delgado

Description: When people hear the words virtual reality (VR) they often think of teenagers and gaming. While this is a facet of VR, this technology is capable of much more than simple leisure. In this presentation, my main goal is to discuss the ways libraries can use VR to build and strengthen relationships with the Latino/Hispanic community.

To begin, I will give a brief introduction to virtual reality by reviewing what this technology is, how it works, and what service it provides. Next, I will highlight the ways VR is currently being used in the world of art and education. This ranges from surgical simulations at university libraries, to historical reenactments in archives, and immersive immigration experiences in museums. Once we have established some foundational knowledge, I will transition to a more focused discussion of ways virtual reality can be utilized to serve Latino/Hispanic populations in libraries.

As virtual reality becomes more mainstream, prices will eventually decrease to a more affordable range. Until we reach that point, libraries have an incredible window of opportunity to provide access to this cutting-edge technology. On a basic level,
software applications allow for educational gaming and bilingual experiences. There is also makerspace potential for the creation and exploration of culturally immersive VR videos that will build empathy within the community at large. However,
these library resources will not reach their fullest potential if our Latino/Hispanic populations are not visiting the library. Fortunately, VR equipment can also be used to create virtual tours of library spaces that are easily accessible through library
websites. Entering a government building can feel intimidating for immigrants and refugees, but knowing what to expect alleviates high anxiety and while encouraging patron visits. By taking full advantage of virtual reality, libraries can build trust,
provide diverse forms of access, and eliminate invisible walls.

To conclude, we will explore the future of virtual reality in libraries by learning about The Family Reunions Project (FRP). Founded by two Latino immigrants, the purpose of this project is to “bring families together using the power of virtual reality.” FRP aims to support undocumented Latino/Hispanic immigrants who are unable to travel. The closest thing to visiting home, is to be fully immersed in a virtual reality experience involving family and friends in Mexico. Using 360-degree cameras to create video postcards, FRP bridges the distance and brings a taste of their Mexican life back home to the US. This project is currently in beta mode as they test the lending of equipment and provision of training to those traveling with Advance Parole. Based on the nontraditional “library of things” model, this project acts as an inspiring example of how libraries can expand
access to technology and information to build and strengthen relationships with the Hispanic/Latino community.

Engaging Service Providers, presented by Gina Del Castillo

Description: How to engage/involve Key Service Providers to fill in the gaps when patrons seek help in areas that are unknown to the employee. Participants will be given an opportunity to engage directly with services providers on how to start the discussion for a long term collaboration or partnership, thus relieving the employee of taking on these issues.

The high school students graduated, what do they need now? presented by Mary K. Dodge, Orlando Archibeque, and Paul Mascarenas

Description: Colleges and universities can be scary places to go by yourself. Questions like “What if no one likes me?” or “I don’t want to look like an idiot in class, what do I do? “There isn’t any difference between Google and the databases the Library has, is there?
Representatives from public and private academic libraries will talk about their experiences with first gen students, freshmen and transfer students who come to the library for help.

Hispanic Resource Center at Your Library, presented by Maria Elena Smyer

Description: Presentation about the services that are provided in Pueblo Library’s Hispanic Resource Center.We provide Hispanic oriented library collections, cultural programming, outreach, citizenship, English, Spanish classes, art exhibitions and workshops for our community.

Leading From When You Stand, presented by Camila A. Alire

Description: You never know when you will be asked to lead a project or a team effort that helps provide services to your Latino/Hispanic community. It doesn’t matter from where you stand — your position, title, or job classification. Are you prepared? What are
some of the basic leadership skills necessary? The goal for this session is to cover basic leadership skills needed in a work environment or for community engagement.

Libraries Supporting Family, Friend & Neighbor Child Care Providers in Early Literacy: Growing Readers Together’s First Year, presented by Joyce Johnson and Pamela Mejia De Rodriguez

Description: In 2016, the Colorado State Library was awarded funds through the Temple Hoyne Buell Foundation to implement Growing Readers Together (GRT), an initiative dedicated to building partnerships between and among Family, Friend & Neighbor (FFN)
child care providers and librarians to enhance the early literacy practices of caregivers and expand the availability of early literacy materials in libraries and caregiver homes. Additionally, GRT supports libraries’ outreach to Spanish-speaking populations and the development of Latino/Hispanic-oriented library collections, particularly early literacy kits. The presentation will discuss use of these kits as a successful engagement tool with the Latino/Hispanic population as well as additional strategies used by Growing Readers Together libraries; the results of the 􀂡rst year’s implementation, and lessons learned when conducting outreach to FFN providers.

 

Reaching Out En La Vecindad: Building Awareness of Library Services and Collections in Chatham County, presented by Luis Melodelgado

Description: Given the large Hispanic population in Chatham County, there has yet to be a coordinated/concerted outreach effort to this demographic in order to increase awareness of available library services and collections. This presentation will address the need for data collection at the local level (in addition to Census data) in order to assess the information needs of our Hispanic communities and will include a proposed outreach program design that would incorporate the resources of existing county
and non-pro􀂡t agencies and our county school system. The program, ‘Hora del Cuento’, would provide an opportunity for data gathering and for the promotion of library services and collections.

Spanish, NOT bilingual, Storytime in Denver’s West Colfax Neighborhood, presented by Nadia Rendon and Rocio Gutierrez

Description: In January 2016, the Rodolfo “Corky” Gonzales branch library started hosting an All-Spanish storytime. Up to this day, this branch is the only one who switched from bilingual storytime to an All-Spanish stortyime. We will discuss the whys, the
process, the challenges and the results of such an adventure. The goal is to show what we have been doing and gather feedback from other participants in the audience about their experience on the same subject.

Storytime en la escuela: Promoting your Spanish-language collection through school outreach, presented by Heather VanDyne

Description: This presentation discusses increasing awareness of the public library services to the Latino/Hispanic community through community outreach in a school setting. Many libraries expand their Spanish/World Languages collection to provide a wider variety of materials to their non-English speaking patrons and offer Spanish/bilingual services at the library in hopes of bringing in new patrons. However, a more effective way to promote library services is through community outreach and going to where Latinos already are, and also through their children. By partnering with schools and offering a regular bilingual or Spanish speaking story time, librarians are given the opportunity to promote library services to a readily available audience
and show off their Spanish-language materials, increasing awareness of the libraries collection and personalizing the library experience for residents that may be intimidated of stepping inside.

The presentation will also show a real life example of the current bilingual storytime happening in Coffeyville, Kansas, where Children’s Librarian Heather VanDyne does Storytime en la escuela for one community school, visiting classes monthly and
reaching students ranging from Pre-K to 5th grade, reading bilingual Spanish/English and Spanish-only text storybooks. She will share her experiences of selecting books, reaching out to multiple age groups, and reading Spanish books to both Spanish
and English speaking students, as well as how it has increased circulation at the Coffeyville Public Library and helped personalize the library for non-library users.

 

Vengan a la Plaza, presented by Virginia Vassar Aggrey and Nicanor Diaz

Description: Welcome to Plaza at Denver Public Library, a dedicated space for migrants from all over the world to connect with people, information, and resources, building Denver’s successful global community. Plazas offer support for new immigrants
including second-language conversation skills, citizenship, business networking, and more. Learn how program design can attract and retain Spanish speakers and their families.