Grant Received to Promote Spanish Literacy

NEWBURGH – The Newburgh Free Library is expanding its program offerings for Spanish speakers in the community thanks to a Ramapo Catskill Library System Mini Literacy grant.

The Mini Literacy grant addresses literacy disparities faced by the Latino Community. In recent Pew Research Study from 2021, the largest number of non-readers were Latino adults at a rate of 38%. In a 2016 survey, the Pew Center found that Latino adults were among the most likely to report in that survey they had never been to a public library. The series “Celebrando la literatura latina y los recursos de la biblioteca”, which begins this Spring, seeks to engage the community by celebrating Latino culture while highlighting the educational resources and services that the Library provides. In honor of National Poetry Month the library will offer a bilingual two-part poetry workshop on Tuesday, April 16 at 6:15 p.m. and Wednesday, May 4 at 6:15 p.m. with poet Silvina Lopez Medin. The bilingual poetry workshop will showcase the works of Latin American poets and give participants the opportunity to create their own poetry. The grant will also support Historias de Latinoamérica, a Spanish reading group that meets monthly at the library with SUNY New Paltz Professor Dr. Adolfo Bejar. Each student in the group will be gifted a copy of a Spanish Poetry Anthology to encourage their participation in the series.

All programs at the Newburgh Free Library are free to attend. If you have any questions about this program series please call Spanish Collection Services Librarian Yoly at 845-563-3644. For more information visit their website at newburghlibrary.org.