Joya Breems– Staff Writer
The Sioux Center Public Library is celebrating Hispanic Heritage Month from September 15 to October 15! While we can (and should) celebrate Hispanic and Latino heritage outside of this month, Hispanic Heritage Month gives a little extra recognition to the contributions Latinos have made to the history and culture of the United States, and to our community. The celebration began under President Johnson in 1968 and was expanded into the Hispanic Heritage Month we celebrate today in 1988 under President Reagan. The reason Hispanic Heritage month starts in the middle of September, is to coincide with several Latin American Independence days, including Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua on September 15. Mexican Independence Day on September 16, and Chile and Belize’s independence days on September 18 and 21.
As of 2022, people with Hispanic Heritage accounted for 13.2% of Sioux Center’s population, and our Hispanic population continues to grow. At the library, we continue to see more patrons with Hispanic heritage signing up for library cards and using library services like printing, computers, wi-fi and attending our programs.
Join us at the library as we celebrate our friends and neighbors with Hispanic heritage! We have activities for all ages planned throughout the month.
We will open our Hispanic Heritage Month celebrations with an after-school craft creating custom backpack zipper pulls from 2:30-4:30 p.m. on September 18.
On September 26 we will host a cooking program for middle schoolers making homemade tortilla chips and guacamole. Registration is required for this program.
Hispanic Heritage Month crafts and snacks, is a drop-in event geared towards elementary school children and families on October 4 from 10-11:30 a.m. (There is no school that day.)
We will continue to host bilingual story hour throughout the month on Monday nights from 6:30- 7:30 p.m.
You can also check out the display located in the front entry featuring biographies of influential Hispanic figures, Hispanic folktales and books by Hispanic authors.
Librarian On The Loose 