Next Steps
Based on the interest of the families as well as the need for more bilingual materials, we dedicated a portion of next year's budget to ordering these materials, and made the development of a more comprehensive multicultural collection part of our long-range goals. The inclusion of bilingual materials responds to Sleeter and Grant's objection to the "business as usual" treatment of Limited English Proficient learners (Sleeter and Grant, 1994, p. 24). They identify this typical approach as "providing bilingual or English as a Second Language (ESL) instruction for as short a time as possible" (Sleeter and Grant, 1994, p. 24). While we may not be able to change the curriculum, we can provide materials that encourage students to celebrate their heritage and maintain their native language, which is clearly something that pleases their parents.
We created an order from Follett Library Resources (www.flr.follett.com) of bilingual materials and Pura Belpre Award Winners. We discovered that Follett offers numerous lists and collections of bilingual books for different age levels and interest areas.
The Pura Belpré Award, established in 1996, is presented to a Latino/Latina writer and illustrator whose work best portrays, affirms, and celebrates the Latino cultural experience in an outstanding work of literature for children and youth. It is co-sponsored by the Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC), a division of the American Library Association (ALA), and the National Association to Promote Library and Information Services to Latinos and the Spanish-Speaking (REFORMA), an ALA Affiliate. (Source: American Library Association. www.ala.org)
Even though Loganville Elementary only serves 3rd-5th grade, we selected materials that were appropriate for lower grades as well. These will help students with their elementary understanding of English. We also included Accelerated Reader quizzes for the materials, so that the ESOL students can participate in that program as well, which will increase their time in and visits to the Media Center.
We have also compiled a list of smaller vendors and publishing houses that offer a selection of bilingual materials. Ordering from these smaller vendors will help us develop a well-rounded collection.
Evaluation
Three families attended the Open House, out of twelve possible families. While this is a good start, we need to work to find other opportunities in the calendar to host events, and perhaps change the nature of the events to showcase student work or have a thematic element to get the kids excited about attending.
As new materials arrive, especially bilingual materials, we should find a way to showcase them for the ESOL families. This should be an ongoing outreach project. Follow up is definitely necessary.
Perhaps the best outcome we have seen is a noticeable increase in Media Center visits by this population. The month prior to the Open House, only three students in the ESOL program checked out a book from the Media Center. In the two weeks after the Open House, there were twelve checkouts. While this is an observation based solely on circulation statistics and has little "scientific" merit, we believe it is a start.
Overall, we think the format was good in that it provided an opportunity for us to find out about the students as individuals. This is difficult to achieve in a formal instructional setting. We will keep fine-tuning the program and look for ways to extend it in the future.
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