REFORMA Program

Started the day with the REFORMA Presidents program on issues facing Latino communities. We could say it is about the issues facing Anglo communities, as the Latino community is growing so quickly, and we -- as Anglos -- are lagging so far behind in terms of recognition and service development. Thin attendance, which is disappointing -- I wonder where all the public library directors are as they are the ones that need to steer policies and programs toward outreach services. AND outreach is the model Oralia Garza de Cortes advocates for connecting with Latino families in order to advance services to Latino children. She also pointed out that Latino communities need to organize to help library directors deliver services, recognizing that LDs come under pressure to support the status quo. Dr. Romelia Salinas talked about issues in Academia and acknowledged that it is a "pipeline" issue -- access to the profession at the masters level begins at the undergraduate level. Richard Chabran countered the concept of the "information poor" with the image of information rich communities that need strategies for sharing -- the digital divide is real, but information poverty is a negative concept best discarded for digital inclusion.

They also began the program with live music ...!