Latino Fraternity Starts Book Fund
				From the Diamondback, Wednesday, May 01, 1996. An Independent Student Newspaper-University of Maryland, College Park. By Thomas Schultz Diamondback staff writer
				The campus chapter of the Lambda Upsilon Lambda fraternity recently became the first campus fraternity to establish a book fund for the campus library system.Also known as "La Unidad Latina", the 10-member Latino fraternity raised $500 and presented it to Anne Scott MacLeod, the acting director of libraries. The money will be used to buy books on the Latino-American experience. 'There are practically no books in the libraries that deal with ...[Latino-American] culture,' fraternity President Juan Sempertegui said yesterday. Most related books in campus libraries only addressed the cultures of Latin American nations south of the U.S. border, Sempertegui said, which created a lack of information about immigrants to the United States or native born Latino-Americans. To remedy the imbalance, fraternity members decided to raise money for more books. We could write letters [to get more books] ... or we could fundraise on our own and do it by ourselves,' he said. The fraternity's effort included a party where it raised the bulk of its donation. 'They only have 10 members and yet they raised $500,' said Sharon Beck, the libraries' gifts-in-kind coordinator. 'One of the best parts of it is that it was a surprise to us.' The $500 donation will allow the library system to purchase about 17 books, Beck said. The books will be available in Mckeldin Library. Librarians are still deciding which books to purchase from a list of about 20 the fraternity made, Beck said. Titles under consideration include 'Documenting Latino Social Struggles' by Carmen Diana Deere and 'A Feminist View of Puerto Rican Identity' by Rafael Ocasio. The books will not be grouped together, Beck said, but will bear a bookplate inside their covers to identify them as part of the new collection. Students or faculty who want a complete list of the book titles can contact her on campus. The fraternity hopes to continue its donations on a yearly basis or, if possible, every semester, Sempertegui said. 'Some have already expressed interest,' he said. 'We're very optimistic about it.'
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