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Photograph by Skye Dunlap
Latino kids celebrate the opening of their new youth center
Teenagers hang in place of their own
New facilities open for the Washington United Youth Center, Biblioteca Latinoamericana
By Jessica Lyons
Sixteen-year-old Jessica Castañeda leans into an overstuffed easy chair, concentrating intently on the flash cards she is writing. A vibrant girl with wavy black hair and friendly eyes, Jessica smiles as I sit down beside her at the Washington Youth Center on South First Street. She and I are tocañas--we share the same name.
Right now, she's studying her physiology homework. But every now and again Jessica's pen stops, and she jumps into the conversation that's ongoing between a handful of other teens in the room: "Who's prettier, Jennifer Lopez or Salma Hayek? ... How long can one woman live on Wienerschnitzel alone?"
The teens share two couches and twice as many chairs arranged in a loose circle in the youth center. A Mexican flag hangs on one wall. A list of handwritten guidelines--"Respect each other's opinion; Keep it confidential; No put downs; Help each other; Respect elders"--hangs on the other wall.
"What's the point of staying home doing nothing when I can come here and do my homework, use the computers, and have fun?" asks Jessica, a junior at Willow Glen High School.
Jessica, and her 15-year-old brother, Jesus, come to the center after school, Monday through Thursday. Some days they study or use computers. Some days the teatro group rehearses or performs. Some days Jessica attends the women's group, where she and other young women can talk intimately about school, boys, self-confidence and being Latina in San Jose.
It's Thursday afternoon and, in about a half-hour, the leadership class will start. Today is the last class that will be held in the cramped center. Although the teens wail in despair, it's not a final goodbye. The small building is only a temporary home for the youth center. On Nov. 20, a new giant Washington United Youth Center and Biblioteca Latinoamericana will celebrate the grand opening of the two joined facilities, located at 921 S. First St.
Jessica is the only teen who has seen the new biblioteca and adjoining youth center. I ask her what she thinks.
Her eyes roll back in her head. "It's so beautiful--so big! Thank goodness we're finally going to get it." She thinks for a minute, before adding, "Since it is a bigger place, I hope we have more participation. I know there are more people who are interested. Maybe now they'll come."
Between 10 and 20 teens visit the Washington Youth Center on a daily basis. It's a place where they can be themselves, hang out, and talk with other teens and adult staff members. Around 4 p.m. each day, once all the kids have arrived, each person picks a word to describe how they are feeling. Today, the teens are "happy," "sad" "excited" and "frustrated." Everyone respects the others' feelings. Everyone gets a chance to talk and be heard.
"Everyone is really nice to me here," says Roscio Guzman, 16, a junior at Willow Glen High. "Last year, I was really into gangs, and then I started coming here and I really liked it. It's really good that they are making a place for kids to go. They could be going out with their homeboys, drinking, but this is a really good environment."
Photograph by Skye Dunlap
Net Result: Jesus Castañeda tries to keep the ball away from Raúl Tornel, a counselor at the Washington Youth Center.
The new youth center and biblioteca are part of a $15.8 million project made possible through the San Jose Redevelopment Agency, Parks Recreation and Neighborhood Services and Community Development Block Grant program. The 15,000-square-foot biblioteca houses Spanish, English and bilingual library materials, a technology room with eight computers for public use, a homework center and a programming room. It boasts the largest Spanish-language collection under one roof in Northern California.
Located adjacent to the library, the new 17,000-square-foot Washington United Youth Center offers a gymnasium, a multipurpose recreation room, a boxing ring, a weight room, game and counseling rooms, and an administrative office with windows looking onto the gym floor. The two buildings are linked by an open-air courtyard, joining the recreational and educational programs of both facilities, connecting learning and fun in a safe, welcoming environment.
"We want youth to feel just as comfortable going to the library as they are going to play basketball," says Perla Rodríguez, director of Catholic Charities Youth Center. "The youth center is just as educational as the library, and the library is a fun place to go as well."
For Marta Morales, a founding mother of the biblioteca and a librarian and teacher at River Glen Elementary, the Biblioteca Latinoamericana's construction solidifies a 26-year dream.
"We do have the largest collection of books in Spanish and English, and we're going to have literacy classes for adults," Morales says. "It will help develop literacy in the immediate community. It's a rich resource for the neighborhood and the city."
In 1973, a group of parents, including Morales, decided they needed a neighborhood library with Spanish and English collections to help their children succeed in school and retain their Latin American culture. A year later, they raised enough money to buy a small book collection, which was housed in a closet at Sacred Heart Church and brought out every Sunday after mass. By 1976, the Biblioteca Latinoamericana opened its doors at 937 Locust St. as a branch of the San Jose Public Library, and relocated again three years later.
Led by Los Amigos de la Biblioteca Latinoamericana, volunteers raised funds for the branch to secure a permanent home. At 15,000 square feet, the new biblioteca is the largest branch in the San Jose Public Library System.
"When I walked in last weekend, I was nearly in tears," Morales says. "I was so overwhelmed by the beauty, by the height, by the large volume of books we'll finally be able to have."
The biblioteca itself is a tall, airy building of brick and cement. High picture windows look out onto South First Street, or in toward the teen-book collection and the computer room.
Five murals decorate the walls of the central reading room. One shows an old man's face in front of a green field, and workers laying stones into the earth. The painting depicts a dicho, or Spanish proverb, written above the faces. It reads: El pueblo que pierde su historia pierde su destino, or "A people who lose their history, lose their destiny."
Jessica Castañeda says she had a similar reaction upon seeing the newly built youth center. "I wanted to touch everything, touch the ground and the walls," she says. "It is beautiful."
Jessica describes a particularly memorable moment at the center last summer. One of the center's adult staff members told Jessica about a weeklong drug education and prevention retreat for middle-school-age kids. The retreat coordinators needed teen mentors, so Jessica decided to apply. She was chosen as one of two teen mentors from San Jose.
She still smiles when she talks about it. "I had a blast. If I wasn't here, I wouldn't have known about it. That's an experience I'll never forget. You don't get a lot of chances like that."
The grand opening ceremony of the Biblioteca Latinoamericana and Washington United Youth Center takes place Sat., Nov. 20, 10:30 a.m. to 5 p.m., at 921 S. First St., San Jose. The celebration continues on Sun., Nov. 21, noon to 5 p.m., with indoor programming and entertainment.
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Willow Glen, California Since 1992
