Críticas Magazine

Loida García-Febo

Celebration of Latino Children's Literature
March 6, 2008

All roads lead to the New South which has the fastest-growing Latino population and where the University of South Carolina is presenting its First Annual Celebration of Latino Children's Literature Conference on April 26.

I wanted to highlight this huge effort because it comes from a university. Truth to be told, I receive many notices about conferences discussing Latino literature for public and school librarians, but this is the first initiative I’ve seen from a university in many years. Unfortunately, I see more news about universities limiting outreach to multiethnic groups than the other way around.

The goal of the First Annual Celebration of Latino Children's Literature Conference is to highlight the many wonderful resources that educators,
teachers, and librarians can use in their programs to promote
intercultural understanding of Latino cultures and break down barriers
in communication. Because while the Latino population continues to grow, unfortunately, the number of books published about Latino cultures does not! Publishers, take note!

The south is experiencing a high wave of Latinos and many of the
educators, teachers, and librarians there are not aware of the cultural
differences among the Latino subcultures nor do they know how to locate
high-quality Latino children's and young adult literature. This
conference aims to fill this void by suggesting sources for locating the best
in Latino children's literature as well as strategies for incorporating
these resources into today's classrooms and libraries. It also present
current research related to: (1) the representation of Latinos in
children's media; (2) best practices in educating Latino children; and
(3) Latino literacy.

“Research indicates that it is important for Latino children to see
themselves represented in the books and media they encounter. Positive,
authentic images of Latino cultures builds self-esteem and improves the
ethnic identity development of Latino children,” said Jamie Campbell Naidoo, Conference Co-chair

The conference is part of a huge Latino Literacy initiative
(*Imagínense!) started by the University of South Carolina. This
initiative will include outreach to the local Latino community; training
for librarians and educators; an evaluation collection of Spanish and
Latino culturally-specific children's and YA literature; and current
research related to literacy, education, and Latinos.

Speakers include Dr. Kathy Short, Yuyi Morales, and Lucia Gonzalez.

For additional information, visit
http://www.libsci.sc.edu/latinoconf/index.htm . Other
questions? Contact conference co-chair Jamie Naidoo at
jnaidoo@gwm.sc.edu

Posted by Loida García-Febo on March 6, 2008 | Comments (1)