During Latinx/Hispanic Heritage Month, local libraries feature a few different displays and events around Latinx heritage.
One focus of the Berkeley Public Library branches is the farmworkers’ movement through an exhibit called “Braceros,” as part of the Henry P. Anderson collection. Anderson worked with unions of farmworkers in California, helping them document their work. Images from his collection are on display at the Central Branch on Shattuck and Kittredge, and the West Branch on University. The Bracero Program started during World War II to help decrease labor shortages. It ultimately favored growers, the people who owned and oversaw the farmland, who controlled wages and working conditions with little to no oversight.
The Ernest Lowe exhibit in the West Branch displays pictures from this time, documenting the lives and challenges of the braceros, meaning “one who works with his arms.” Another part of this exhibit is at the Central Branch, which features more of the Anderson collection, as well as the Rick Tejada-Flores collection. The Berkeley Public Library branches also host other events celebrating Latinx/Hispanic heritage, such as music performances and family activities. On Saturday, Sept. 13, 2025, the West Branch held a performance by Aguacate Music Kids. “We usually get 25-30 people in a program, but that program brought out 100+ people,” Lisette Gonzalez, the children’s librarian, said. Gonzalez is bilingual and hosts a weekly program for bilingual babies and their families.
The West Branch also showed a film documenting the time of the braceros, called “Harvest of Loneliness.” The film had a screening and a discussion afterward, with family members of people who had been braceros in attendance.
Berkeley Public Library branches have also recently expanded their Spanish collection. “I specifically order all teen Spanish books, whether they’re graphic novels, fiction or non-fiction,” Stephanie Torres, teen librarian at the Central Library, said. One of Torres’ favorite books that highlights Latinx heritage is “The House on Mango Street” by Sandra Cisneros. It talks about “both aspects of being Latino ... specifically growing up here in the U.S. and having that difference in cultures,” Torres said.
Upcoming Latinx/Hispanic Heritage Month events at the public libraries include the year-round Spanish book club at the Central Branch and Muñecas Quitapenas, or worry dolls, at the North Branch. The Berkeley High School librarians, Allyson Bogie and Meredith Irby, are highlighting the author Silvia Moreno-Garcia this year as part of their Latinx/Hispanic Heritage Month displays at the library. Moreno-Garcia is the Mexican Canadian author of “Mexican Gothic,” a gothic horror novel set in Mexico City in the 1950s that follows the main character on a hunt for answers “after receiving a frantic letter from her newly-wed cousin begging for someone to save her from a mysterious doom,” according to the book blurb.
In order to spotlight heritage months at the BHS library, Irby and Bogie send out an email to staff with links to reading lists they have created for the month. When picking book recommendations, Irby thinks about books that are “new and popular,” but also that are by people they “really love and ... have been reading.” Students can find more books by Latinx authors in the display in front of the library and during book passes in English class library visits this month. Some of Bogie’s favorite Latina authors include Julia Alvarez, author of “How the García Girls Lost their Accents” and “In the Time of the Butterflies,” among others, and Isabel Allende, author of “The House of The Spirits” and “Eva Luna.” The librarians also strive to highlight and encourage students to attend events that are occuring locally, such as exhibits at the Oakland Museum of California and the Berkeley Historical Society.
“Even though there’s only one official month each year to celebrate Latine heritage,” Gonzalez said, “This is not just something that dies at the end of Latine Heritage Month — this goes on.” With events at the libraries like Spanish book club and Bilingual Baby Bounce happening monthly and weekly, Latinx community is emphasized throughout the year. Gonzalez added, “Everyone is welcome at the library; it’s a public space, so we welcome and want to collaborate with all.”