Latino Heritage MonthSept 15 - Oct 15

Cultural heritage months give us the opportunity to highlight the contributions specific groups have made to the world of literature and to our society in general. Sept 15 - Oct 15 is Latino/Hispanic Heritage Month. Nearly 20 percent of Colorado residents identify themselves as Latino / Hispanic (U.S. Census) ; that is 5 percent above the national average! I encourage you to find a unique way to celebrate this month in your library... instilling pride in the latin@ teens of our communities. Below are some resources to help enable you to do so.

Brief History of Latino Heritage Month:

Hispanic Heritage Month is the period to recognize the contributions of Hispanic Americans to the United States and to celebrate Hispanic heritage and culture. The observation started in 1968 as Hispanic Heritage Week under President Lyndon Johnson and was expanded by President Ronald Reagan in 1988 to cover a 30-day period starting on September 15 and ending on October 15. It was enacted into law on August 17, 1988 on the approval of Public Law 100-402.

September 15 was chosen as the starting point for the celebration because it is the anniversary of independence of five Latin American countries: Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua. They all declared independence in 1821. In addition, Mexico and Chile celebrate their independence days on September 16 and September 18, respectively." Public Law 100-402 authorizes and requests the President to issue an annual proclamation designating September 15 through October 15, as "Hispanic Heritage Month." October 12, Columbus Day or Día de la Raza, also falls within this 30 day period. (wikipedia.org)

Hispanic or Latino? by Richard L Vázquez (losculturas.com)
http://www.lasculturas.com/aa/aa070501a.htm

Need quick picks for a display? Check out these authors:
Gabriel Garcia Marquez - Isabelle Allende - Julia Alverez - Rudolph Anaya - Laura Esquivel

Barnes and Noble Book Lists for Latino Heritage Month
Latin America and Caribbean
Mexican and Mexican American
Multicultural Short Stories Collections

Celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month
Schloastic Teacher's Resource
http://teacher.scholastic.com/ACTIVITIES/hispanic/index.htm

ABCs of Latino Heritage Month
Teaching Tolerance from the Southern Poverty Law Center
http://www.tolerance.org/teach/activities/activity.jsp?ar=709

ALA Banned Book WeekSept 27 - Aug 4

From the American Library Association website:

Banned Books Week: Celebrating the Freedom to Read is observed during the last week of September each year. Observed since 1982, this annual ALA event reminds Americans not to take this precious democratic freedom for granted. This year, 2008, marks BBW's 27th anniversary (September 27 through October 4).

BBW celebrates the freedom to choose or the freedom to express one’s opinion even if that opinion might be considered unorthodox or unpopular and stresses the importance of ensuring the availability of those unorthodox or unpopular viewpoints to all who wish to read them. After all, intellectual freedom can exist only where these two essential conditions are met.

For more information, click on the following link:
http://www.ala.org/ala/oif/bannedbooksweek/bannedbooksweek.cfm

Not surprisingly, Wikipedia offers one of the most comprehensive list of books banned internationally. Here is a link to that resource as well:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_banned_books

Need some BBW garb? Look at what Cafe Press has to offer:
http://shop.cafepress.com/censorship