The recent arrival of over 70,000 children crossing the southern border into the United States has created an unprecedented humanitarian refugee crisis that compels REFORMA as an organization to act. While recent news coverage of this event has focused on legal, medical and emergency response to services, there are few if any news stories that demonstrate the social-emotional and information needs
of these children and families. A view of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facilities shows children waiting in large storage like facilities with no activities to occupy the children’s minds through learning and play while they are being processed. With no knowledge of where they are going or if they will reach their families in the United States, REFORMA has implemented a project, Children in Crisis, to purchase and/or solicit donations. We are soliciting children's books in Spanish to be delivered to the children in the detention centers in Texas, and New Mexico and to the shelters and group homes around the country where these children are sent after being processed. In the second phase of the project we will be coordinating backpacks that will contain books as well as paper, pencils, erasers, crayons and a writing journal for children to use in their journey toward their destination. These would be distributed via the caregivers who are provide shelter to these children after their processing. This second phase will be carried out through the local chapters of REFORMA around the United States in conjunction with other social service agencies. This web page was created by a task force of Spanish Speaking and bilingual/bicultural librarians to help other library staff and community members more effectively assist the unaccompanied refugee children who are being processed. Our goal is to get books into the hands of these children, ensure that they have access to storytime materials, and to make all the recent arrivals aware of the wealth of library resources that are available to them here in the United States. The initial book donations are governed by what the Customs and Border Protection (CBP) can accept and therefore we need to move quickly to get the funds to buy books and ship them. The second phase is more flexible and allows local REFORMA chapters to work with local support organizations in creative ways to provide materials and services. 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 nineteen (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.
