Bilingual library to open in Near Westside Latino cultural center La Casita
La Casita Cultural Center’s bilingual library is more than just books and shelves — it’s a way to connect different generations and cultures.
After years of planning and months of construction, the new library, located in the center at 109 Otisco St., will open its doors to the public April 26. The founders had always envisioned a bilingual library to be a part of La Casita, which has connected members of the Near Westside community to their Latin American heritage for almost three years.
Tere Paniagua, executive director of cultural engagement for the Hispanic community at Syracuse University, described herself as being the “motor” of the operation, as she put the groundwork into gear.
“It was not until this spring that it really became a priority to move forward with this project and to see it finalized,” Paniagua said.
Students in the Society of Multicultural Architects and designers in the School of Architecture, along with their adviser Francisco Sanin, designed the bilingual library. Once the design was approved in January of this year, construction began in February, she said.
“[The] space is designed to house well over a thousand volumes,” Paniagua said. “What we’re beginning to see now is that we have room for much more than a thousand books. ”
Currently, the library has between 500-600 books, CDs and DVDs for children, young adults and adults. Its collection includes titles about visual and performing arts, the humanities, education, literacy, contemporary youth culture and children’s books, Paniagua said.
When researching what types of books to purchase, Inmaculada Lara-Bonilla, co-founder and director of programming for La Casita, said she wanted to complement the Mundy Branch Library, located on the far west side of Syracuse, and the Seymour Dual Language Academy.
“The difference with La Casita’s bilingual library and other libraries in the Near Westside is that it is meant to be inter-generational,” Lara-Bonilla said.
Silvio Torres-Saillant, co-founder of La Casita and professor in the English and textual studies department at SU, said he found there was no library that welcomed various generations within families on the Near Westside.
“Especially in immigrant families, quite often you have a language divide among different segments of the family — between the grandparents and the children — that are speaking two different languages or at least not sharing one language,” Torres-Saillant said.
He said he hopes the bilingual library will take these linguistic divides into account.
In addition, La Casita’s library is the only library on the Near Westside that focuses on the Latino heritage.
“Sometimes, people don’t know about their own heritage,” Lara-Bonilla said. “They won’t value that heritage. One of La Casita’s missions is to make the Latino heritage visible.”
The bilingual library could also be important for undergraduate and graduate students at SU interested in Latin American culture, she said. By linking the visual arts, performing arts and educational programs through library resources, these programs can have a depth they wouldn’t have had otherwise.
“Our library is embedded within a cultural center, and many of our titles will be intimately connected with programming,” Lara-Bonilla said. “We want to make sure the books are not simply sitting there, but that they are used, alive.”
