Thursday, September 18, 2008

Hispanic Heritage Month


Hispanic Heritage Month
Originally uploaded by Pesky Library
Between September 15 and October 15 we celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month. Immigrants from Paraguay, El Salvador, Venezuela, Costa Rica, Mexico, Peru, Puerto Rico, Spain, Argentina, Chile, Honduras, Panama, Nicaragua, Uruguay, Colombia, Bolivia, Ecuador, Cuba, Guatemala and the Dominican Republic and their culture and heritage are honored by this Congressional designation. The month begins on September 15 because five of these countries, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua celebrate their independence from Spain on that day. In addition, Mexico celebrates independence on September 16 and Chile on September 18.

In the library this month we are celebrating Julia Alvarez, who was born in the United States and raised in the Dominican Republic. Her family’s history and the history of the Dominican Republic weave through her stories. She tells about living under the dictatorship of Trujillo in the 1950s (In the Time of the Butterflies) and being an immigrant to the United States (How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents), just to name a few of her stories. Pick up one of her books today.

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