Research into practice: Latino Perception of Public Libraries and their Public Library Use ALA Annual, Chicago 2009

Zola Maddison, Kathy Sheppard, Loida Garcia-Febo

Latinos and Public Library Perceptions, 2008

http://www.webjunction.org/latino-perceptions

Data Collection and Weighting

• Telephone Surveys, March-May 2008;

• 2,860 Adult Respondents;• 6 States (California, Florida,

Texas, New York, North Carolina, Nevada)

• 4 Traditional Immigration States (97%)

• 2 New Destination States (3%) 70% of US-Latino Population in 6 states

• Weighted for Sex, Age, Income, Nativity, State

General Findings

• ALA survey predicts satisfaction:o Gen. Pop. 63%o Latino 49%

• Our Latino sample un-weighted 49%• Weighted 53%Satisfaction• More Satisfaction with English than Spanish

Materials

Key Findings

• Perceptions of staff service are a stronger factor in increasing visits than Spanish-language materials.

• The more fluent a person is in English, the more likely they are to have visited the library and accessed its services.

• Completion of high school increases likelihood of visiting the library.

• Availability of resources including computer access, information on jobs, and general information influence library visits.

Policy Recommendations

1.Get to know your local Latino community

2.Advertise the library as a place to learn English

3.Advertise public access to computers and availability of general information

4.Inform the community that the library does not share library user information

Get to know your local Latino Community

Advertise the library as a place to learn English

Advertise public access to computers

Make user privacy known to community

SLO Tools for Implementing Outreach

• Spanish Language Outreach Action Plan Guide: http://www.webjunction.org/slo-workshop-materials/-/articles/content/441944 

• Activity Planning Guide: http://www.webjunction.org/slo-workshop-materials/-/articles/content/444379

• Suggested Outreach Activities: http://www.webjunction.org/slo-workshop-materials/-/articles/content/443756

How are you putting it into practice?

• Do you have yet to implement outreach, or are looking for ways to start?

• Have begun to implement, but would like to do more?• What success have you had and how impactful are

your outreach efforts?  • What are barriers to implementing outreach?

1. No Spanish-speaking staff?

2. Lack of management buy-in?

3. Lack of community buy-in?