At the Library 7/7/22

At The Library

By Jenna Messer

¡Hola hispanohablantes del sureste de Iowa! ¿Sabías que tenemos libros en español para niños, adolescentes, y adultos aquí en la Washington Free Public Library? English translation: Hello Spanish speakers of southeast Iowa! Did you know that we have Spanish books for children, teens, and adults at the Washington Free Public Library?

It is true! All of our materials in the Spanish language have a red and yellow sticker on the spine of the book that indicates that they are a part of this collection. The adult Spanish collection is located on the second level of the library. There you can find non-fiction, fiction, and biography titles all together in one location. Our collection features works from both well-known English-speaking authors translated into Spanish and books originally published in Spanish. Do you want to know what is even better? If you find a book in Spanish that you would like to read that we do not currently have in our collection, talk to us at the front desk and we can order it from a different library to give to you through our Inter-Library Loan program. 

We also have books for all ages of Spanish-speaking children. For the older kids, Spanish titles are sprinkled throughout our juvenile collection on the first floor. Just look for that red and yellow sticker to locate your choices. One of my favorite books that I have read and re-read multiple times as a child is called Tangerine by Edward Bloor. It happens to be a title that we have in both languages here at the library and I highly recommend checking it out. Other popular children’s book series like Diary of a Wimpy Kid, Harry Potter, and American Girl are available in Spanish, along with other stand-alone titles. Elementary-aged children and crawlers also have their own Spanish section located by our English juvenile nonfiction shelf including selections from Dr. Seuss and Eric Carle among others. 

Even if you are a native English speaker, you may want to check out these collections and begin to learn Spanish. The benefits of being bilingual are endless. The demand for bilingual workers is rapidly increasing, and this skill on average may pay around 5-20% more per hour according to salary.com. Being bilingual has also been proven to keep your mind sharp; research shows that being bilingual delays the onset of dementia and other symptoms of Alzheimer’s. For young people, growing up bilingual has been linked to better grades, problem-solving skills, memory, and creativity. If you are an English speaker learning Spanish, reading elementary-level books in Spanish is one of the best ways to do it! Throughout my five years’ worth of Spanish classes, I have learned that this is one of the easiest ways to start actually implementing the language into your daily life.

¡Leamos! Let’s read!