REFORMA Children In Crisis Project
Books & Library Connections
for Unaccompanied Refugee Children
The National Association to Promote Library & Information Services to Latinos & the Spanish Speaking
REFORMA Children in Crisis - Est. 2014
The REFORMA Children in Crisis project has been addressing the needs of asylum seeking children arriving at our borders since 2014 when Oralia Garza de Cortes and Lucia Gonzalez founded the group. Over these years there has been an ebb and flow of activity as the arrival of children has fluctuated and as the U.S. national policy has changed.
Today we find ourselves in a very challenging situation as we attempt to send books to both sides of the border for the rapidly rising number of arriving children and families. Over the years we have worked with traditional shelters here in the U.S. like those of Southwest Key and with grassroots organizations like Team Brownsville on the Brownsville/Matamoros border, Jewish Family Services, Catholic Charities and many others.
We are today asking for your help again so that we can purchase more Spanish and bilingual Spanish/English books for the children. Please help us spread the word about the need for donations to purchase books and to ship them to the various shelters, transportation points where the children are passing through and anywhere else that we and our supporters find the arriving children.
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REFORMA, (http://www.reforma.org) established in 1971 as an affiliate of the American Library Association (ALA), has actively sought to promote the development of library collections to include Spanish-language and Latino oriented materials; the recruitment of more bilingual and bicultural library professionals and support staff; the development of library services and programs that meet the needs of the Latino community; the establishment of a national information and support network among individuals who share our goals; the education of the U.S. Latino population in regards to the availability and types of library services; and lobbying efforts to preserve existing library resource centers serving the interests of Latinos.
Nationally there are twenty (20) active REFORMA chapters throughout the country. These function autonomously, working through their local library systems, state library associations, and local organizations to achieve local objectives. We warmly invite all interested persons to join us in our efforts
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