Developing Cultural Competence and a Better Understanding of Latino Language and Culture through Literature: What a Latino Author Tells Us

Abstract

Cultural competence has become an essential ability for public librarians to improve services to school-age Latino children, particularly young Spanish speakers, who make up one of the largest populations of youth in the US. According to the Pew Research Hispanic Center's recent report on Latinos in the US, the growth in young Spanish-speaking Latinos is expected to continue well into the twenty-first century. Providing culturally competent services to young Latinos, particularly children who bring from their native countries cultural experiences that are often very different from those in the US, is a major challenge for library and information science professionals. How best to address the literacy development of Latinos, and how also to ensure that they, like other populations, become proficient library users depends on each librarian's ability to become informed about cultural differences related to the Latino population, to develop a deeper understanding of the unique circumstances of Latinos in this country, and of linguistic and cultural attitudes affecting their literacy development. This article discusses several Latino language and cultural issues identified in the writings of a young popular Latino author, which can serve to inform the profession about Latinos and further develop cultural competence in working with this population. First is the importance of including the language of the reader in stories as a way of developing literacy. Second is the use of stories and folktales in identifying and resolving cultural differences. The third is providing stories as a way of better understanding cultural traditions. Adapted from the source document.