Impacting Rural Hispanic Communities by Reaching Out, Connecting and Providing Services at Different Levels
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.7710/1093-7374.1874Keywords:
Oregon, Oregon libraries, academic library, libraries, librarians, northwest, information science, information literacy, writing, library trends, books, library funding, Oregon library association, quarterly, Oregon library association quarterly, American library association, ala, ola, reading, library success, success, evolving roles, user experience, user services, library service design, web services, cataloging, public, new discipline, changes in libraries, career, careers, library careers, library career, new department, student workers, services, professional journal, scholarly, academic, circulation, Portland, innovative, inventive, user, users, solution, patrons, REFORMA, REFORMA Or, REFORMA Oregon Chapter, round table, collaboration, outreach, REFORMA National, biblioteca, bibliotecas, bibliotecas de oregon, bibliotecas de estados unidos, Latinx, Latino, Latina, Latino/a, hispanic, professional organization, mentoring, developing, development, professional, wccls, oregon state, children, children’s materials, festivals, introduction, Hood River, county, rural, communities, Odell, dia de los ninos, dia de los muertos, snacks, zumba, dj, radio, shuttle, bus, la hora infantil, rondas, infantiles, recursos informativos, migrant, summer, school, conferenceAbstract
In my role as an outreach specialist, I have created community events, partnered with various organizations, and participated in nontraditional programs in order to attract the vast Hispanic populations in the area to the various Hood River County libraries.
Hood River County is a rural community, and an estimated 31 percent of the population is Hispanic. The great thing about this community is that it has invested its efforts in honoring and accepting the Hispanic culture and bringing the community together as a whole. There is a little town named Odell, about eight miles south of Hood River, where I have focused my outreach efforts. Odell currently has an estimated Hispanic population of 65 percent.