To meet the needs of limited English proficient (LEP) students at an elementary school, the school library will acquire a number of books in Spanish and Spanish-English editions of English-language books. The manipulation has two purposes. The first is simply to encourage reading among LEP students. The second is to acquaint LEP students with the traditions and customs of the majority culture through the use of bilingual books, books that include a Spanish-language translation of an English text side-by-side with the original English version. Making both types of books available is a way of meeting the dual goals of contemporary bilingual education programs: Minority students will be encouraged to appreciate the values of their own culture; they will also be exposed to the traditions and values of the majority culture. Therefore, the acquisition of the special books is an element of a pluralistic approach to bilingual education (Padilla, 1982).
It is predicted that a year of exposure to Spanish-language and bilingual books through their availability in the school library will have a positive effect on LEP students' skills in both English and Spanish, as measured with instruments developed specifically for that purpose. In the school selected for this study the majority actually consists of students with Spanish surnames. A large number of the students speak little or no English. test scores will be compared with those at a similar school where no book acquisition program is in place.
The use of bilingual library books as part of a reading enrichment program is one way of accommodating the needs of Spanish-speaking students who know little or no English. It is a potential part of a larger program of bilingual education. In assessing the effectiveness of books that present English- and Spanish-language versions of texts oriented toward the majority Anglo culture it is necessary to consider a number of the larger issues...