The Santa Barbara Public Library System was given a $10,000 grant to purchase bilingual books for children. The grant comes from the California State Library as part of the California Immigrant Alliance Project and the Technology Act.
The grant will allow the Santa Barbara Public Library System to expand its existing collection of bilingual children’s books in all of its branches. Some of the libraries included are the Central, Eastside, Goleta, Montecito, Carpinteria, Solvang, and Buellton libraries.
The Immigrant Alliance Project was created to help immigrants and their families by supporting libraries in their efforts to create and extend services to immigrants. According to the library’s press release, California has more than 10 million immigrants, with 32 percent of students in Santa Barbara County classified as English learners.
Library Director Jessica Cadiente said in the release that the library should “reflect the communities we serve,” and because of California’s rising immigrant population, she expressed the importance of having bilingual books available.
“We’re pleased to be able to meet the demand for bilingual children’s books in our service area,” she said in the release, “and will promote the collection in conjunction with programs we offer, such as bilingual story times.”
The books will be given throughout the Santa Barbara Public Library System branches, especially to those that have “increasingly bilingual communities” like the Eastside Library and the Carpinteria Library.
This article appears in Jun 22-29, 2017.