Supporting Spanish Language Literacy: Latino Children and Free Reading Resources in Schools

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Abstract
This study attempts to describe the issues which affect availability of free-reading materials in Spanish in elementary and middle school libraries. Attention was given to documenting the processes and chains of events which result in the actual library collections in selected elementary and middle schools in the Greater Los Angeles area. Nine school libraries were visited to examine current collections and patterns of use as well as implementation of district policies. Secondarily, public libraries closest to each school site were examined in order to determine their role in providing language minority children with free-reading materials. Conclusions were drawn as to the effectiveness of the school library in providing language minority children with access to reading materials in their primary language, and whether the needs of language minority children can be met through use of existing reading resources in the schools and in the community at large. Implications for primary language literacy development are discussed.