The Availability of Spanish Heritage Language Materials in Public and School Libraries

Abstract

Based on the premise that heritage language (HL) materials are important for supporting first-language literacy, both as a foundation for English-language learning and as a vital part of maintaining and developing heritage languages, this study attempts to determine how much HL material is available for language minority students in the libraries of a large elementary school district in Phoenix, Arizona. It also attempts to determine whether there is any relationship between a school's instructional approach for its English-language learners and the quantity of heritage language reading material offered. Seven school and two public libraries were examined to determine the availability of books in languages other than English. Although all of the schools had large second-language populations representing many different language backgrounds, the findings reveal only a very limited number of books in languages other than English available in the libraries and the majority of these were in Spanish. The study also found only a weak relationship between the type of language programmes offered by the schools and the number of heritage language books available. The study highlights the growing issue of equity and fairness in the distribution of resources for language minority students.