Library Program Focuses on Immigration Issues

Only 77 counties nationwide received grants from the National Endowment for the Arts’ “The Big Read” program this year, and Tom Green County was one of them. In fact, Tom Green County has been a recipient for the past three years, and this is the counties fourth consecutive year taking part.

As a part of the fund allocation from the grant the county was awarded, Stephen’s Central Library is hosting a series of events for teens and adults this month, and has partnered with ASU to push the program.

“The Big Read is an initiative of the National Endowment for the Arts designed to revitalize the role of literary reading in American popular culture,” states the Reader’s Guide in the Stephen’s Library.

The month-long program seeks to combat the decline in reading for pleasure in American adults by promoting a single book and the issues it centers on in the community through events, presentations, films and activities.

Tom Green County selected immigration issues this year, with Luis Albertos Urrea’s “Into the Beautiful North” as the centerpiece.

“Being as close as we are to the border, we felt it was really a timely topic for us,” says Wanda Green from Stephen’s Library. “ It’s been such an issue in the news with the attempts at immigration reform. This author was also born in Tijuana, so he was born on the border…he knows the community. We just felt like it was a very good fit for us.”

Teens and adults alike are invited to the Stephen’s Central Library in downtown San Angelo for a series of films highlighting immigration issues to be shown through Saturday.

Tonight’s film is “La Bamba”, a movie from 1987 that tells the biographical story of Chicano rock and roll star Richard Steven Valenzuela, known as Ritchie Valens. Valens was a Hispanic-American singer made famous by his number one hit song, “Donna”. The movie focuses on Valens’ story as a musician, but also tells of struggles Valens experienced as a Hispanic-American.

Visitors to the Library may also pick up a free copy of Urrea’s book in either English or Spanish, while supplies last. On Oct. 15, Luis Alberto Urrea will be giving a presentation and hosting a question and answer session in the Stephen’s Library at 7 p.m. The event is free and open to the public.

Urrea is a Pulitzer Prize finalist author, and his written 14 books to date, some of which center on immigration issues, while others are poetry books and a personal memoir. Urrea’s work is known for its humor despite the seriousness of the issues he covers, and in an interview with the San Diego Public Library, Urrea said of his own work: “I write the funniest tragedies in town.”

‘Into the Beautiful North” is kind of an adventure story about immigration, says Green. The story follows a 19-year-old girl in a remote Mexican village, who, inspired by “The Magnificent Seven”, sets off to the U.S. to recruit men to defend her hometown against the drug-dealing Bandidos, says the author’s summary. “Into the North is a joyful timely tale of one irresistible young woman’s quest to define herself without borders,” the summary concludes.

Green mentions that Urrea is a wonderful and incredibly funny speaker, and that the library would love to see a good turnout from the public.

More information on the event and all others pertaining to Tom Green County’s participation in “The Big Read” can be found on the library’s website at tgclibrary.com