AT 54 MILLION AND COUNTING, Hispanics constitute the largest and fastest growing ethnic minority in the United States. They represent 17 percent of the total U.S. population, a figure that is expected to grow to 30 percent by 2060. Some 38 million Hispanics (70 percent) speak Spanish at home, making it more widely spoken at home than any language except English. As the Spanish-speaking community continues to grow, so does the demand for Spanish-language materials, including media resources.

As Barbara Hoffert points out in her 2015 LJ materials survey “Materials Breakout”. “This year, DVD/Blu-ray circulation constituted a whopping 22.5% of the total.” These are products that are still in high demand and are unlikely to disappear anytime soon, and we Spanish speakers certainly make up a large percentage of the population that continues to watch movies on-disc.

Finally, the U.S. Communication and Entertainment Insights Program states that households of Spanish-only speakers are less likely to have OTT (“over the top”) subscriptions, download-to-own, and pay per view services than their English-speaking counterparts. Part of the reason might be that in spite of significant strides, poverty levels among Hispanics are up to nine percent higher than the national rate, according to the American Community Survey Briefs. It’s clear, then, that access to a Spanish-language media collection at their local library significantly enhances Spanish speakers’ opportunities to meet their educational and recreational needs.

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