Athens Regional Library System

This library-museum partnership with the Lyndon House Arts Center builds upon each organization's earlier efforts to better serve the local Mexican-American community via educational and cultural programs. The project is structured around three main goals: (1) To improve the educational level of the immigrant Mexican population through extensive outreach initiatives: by establishing a Community Learning Center in conjunction with the Georgia Public Library Service; conducting family literacy programs and language classes; and establishing a distance education program for primary and secondary school diplomas, vocational training, and English instruction. (2) To increase use of library and arts center facilities by the Mexican-American community through targeted in-house programming, collection development, and staff training that includes an advisory panel of community resource people to assist with program development and implementation, Spanish-language training for staff, and the improvement of the number of Spanish-language resources. (3) To provide opportunities for educational and cultural exchange between the new Mexican community and the established community, nurturing understanding by matching Mexican-American and Athens families for shared educational and cultural activities through the establishment of a "sister city" relationship with a library and museum in Mexico.