The following article summarizes a new study showing, yet again, the power of having access to books in the home. We can extrapolate from this study that any access to books, including library books, can have an impact as well. If your library is not offering culturally and language appropriate services to your Latino community and getting them into the library and checking out books, then you may be denying them the benefit that others are gaining. 

The difference between having no books in the home and having 500 books in the home has an enormous impact on schooling: Evans, Kelley, Sikora and Treiman (2010) did a study of about 70,000 15 year olds in 27 countries, interviewed. Their major result: Controlling for parental education, fathers' occupation, and social class, young people in homes with 500 books stay in school three years longer than children in bookless homes. 

This month's site is an informational site for the Mexican Bicentennial. Yes, that's right, 2010 is the 200 year anniversary of Mexican independence from Mexico, celebrated on September 16th. Many of us are serving populations who have ongoing ties to Mexico through family, culture, and tradition, and the bicentennial is a big event for them. If you would like to create a program for the Mexican Bicentennial, or just learn more about the mexican revolution and the centennial celebrations, check out our featured web link of the month of April: The Mexican Bicentennial website of the Mexican government, in English.