[LM_NET] HIT: Books in Spanish in LMC

[Maryanne Peightel <emaay56@YAHOO.COM>]

Thanks to all who responded to my query on whether you stocked books in Spanish for 
English as a Second Language users.  You were all very  helpful and informative.  I 
hope others will take the time to read everyone's thoughts and experiences--again 
thanks so much.  Below are my responses:

My thoughts are that if I went to France with my family, I would not want to read 
books in French for pleasure.  I would want to read books in my home language.  I 
stock titles in Spanish that are popular in English, including graphic novels.

I am at a high school library but we have many students who come here from
Mexico.  I have various kinds of materials in Spanish on my shelves.  Many
of the books I have are actually for the Spanish language classes but I have
novels in Spanish for the ESL students.


My school is now a majority Hispanic school, and yes, we have a
separate Spanish/Bilingual section in our library. For our children
whose parents do not speak or read English, then they have materials
for them that the kids (or parents) can check out and read to their
children. I have found it to be a more and more popular section of our
library as time has gone on. We started out with a very small section
of the library, and now after a $9,000 grant last year it has increased
to the point where we had to move it to a larger section of the
library.  The children themselves like being able to read chapter books in Spanish 
while they also take beginning reading/primary books in
English. This way they can feel better about their reading skills as
they know they are reading at their own grade level in Spanish - but
learning a new language with the easier books.Hope this helps, I had a difficult 
time at first explaining to
some of the teachers about the need for these books, but after several
years they have come to see the need, too. We in fact have books in
Urdu & Tagalog, too!

We do.  We have a lot of students who attempt to read the book in both
languages, referring to the Spanish version if they have difficulty
with the English version.  We are going to have to cut back on what we
purchase in Spanish though because of funding.  We received a grant
from the state a couple of years ago that purchased a lot.

I do have  a collection of books in Spanish/bilingual books in my library.  We have 
a large Hispanic
population.  For me, it's not as much about the  students learning to
read Spanish, though.  Being elementary, many of our children can't
read much period.  However, it gives them a chance to take home books
that their parents can read with them.  This is especially important
for our younger grades.  It also shows the families that we care enough
to provide resources that they can use.

In my previous job at a bilingual middle school in San Francisco, I had a 
collection of books in Spanish. 
My experience was that although most of the students were bilingual in
English and Spanish many were not biliterate.  They had been educated
in American schools and could not really read Spanish so the collection was not 
used much. 
There is also a problem finding quality literature in Spanish that
reaches above what I call the "Clifford the big red dog"
level.  It is very easy to find beginning readers but as the students
become competent readers and should be looking for longer and more
complex literature it is very difficult and expensive to find.  There
is also a problem with the translation.  I was able to get the Harry
Potter novels, for example, but they were translated in Spain and they were very 
difficult for my students that mostly were from Mexico and Central American 
countries.

I am presently in a school where the majority of students have Spanish as a first 
language at home. We do carry books in Spanish, and I would prefer we had more of 
them. 

Not
only is it important that they have one language wholly under their
belt, but if they are taught subject content in English, they lag
behind native English speakers in content knowledge.
So it is extremely important that, while learning English,
they have access to books in their native language as well so they can
have a better chance of keeping up with their peers in terms of subject
matter.

We have some totally Spanish and quite a few bilingual.

Yes, I do have a Spanish section for our students.  I try to purchase two
copies of bilingual library books and place one in the English section and
one in the Spanish section.  The teachers like the students to be able to
work together and compare the text versions.  

Because our ELL population is so high (70%, all native Spanish
speakers) and our Hispanic population is even higher (87%), AND because
we opened our school last year clearly aware of our demographics, we
have a large percentage (I tried to get 1/3 but it's more like 1/4) of
our library's collection in Spanish or bilingual. We shelve them with
the English books and indicate they're Spanish by an orange sticker. In
the catalog their call #s start with SPA but the kids are taught that's
an indicator of language and not a location.
Where I see the Spanish
books as being particularly crucial for children who speak Spanish at
home is that in the younger grades, particularly, the parent piece is
so critical for early reading. Children are taking home books for
mommy/daddy/grandma/brother/guardian to read TO them, and if those
adults only read Spanish then bringing home an English book does no
good. But reading to a child in Spanish translates to learning to read
in English, so it's really important for those of us serving an ELL
population to provide them with materials that will help them with this
need. Plus, it builds community! Plus, it supports children who are
bilingual/literate in both languages. Plus, it's good PR. Lots of
plusses!

MAryAnne- My schoolid about 60%hispanic. We have a dual language program in 
every grade.(K-4) I do stock Spanish Books. I also have a great deal of 
bilingula books. Just last year I really stocked up.  I ahve chapter bboks, 
picture boooks and non-fiction as well. It is a good opportunity for the 
engliosh speakers who are learning Spanaish as well as the the ELL's.

I have two bookcases 
filled with books in Spanish in my library for my ELL/ESL students.  Some 
are bilingual but the majority are in Spanish.  I have books that support 
the social studies and science classes as well as books in Spanish that my 
English-speaking students read-- including Twilight!  My books are 
like the other books in my library: at varying reading levels.  Some of my 
English-speaking special education students can only read at a 1st or 2nd grade 
reading level, while some of my advanced English-speaking students are reading 
on a high school level.  I expect and find the similar things with my 
ELL/ESL students; thus the need for books in Spanish at different levels.  
To assume that just because a child speaks Spanish means he can read any book in 
Spanish, makes as much sense as to assume the same thing of English-speaking 
students.  I started my collection 15 years ago and now have the largest 
Spanish collection in my District.  

Maryanne Peightel, Reading Specialist (LMS in training!)
George Washington Middle School
Alexandria City Public Schools



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