Shelby County’s Hispanic population continues to grow with each new population survey.

And we are now forced with meeting the needs of a group of people who, more often than not, do not speak English.

According to census estimates, there has been more than a 40 percent increase in Hispanics in the county since 2000.

City and county services, already stretched to the limit, must meet the infrastructure needs that develop with this population increase.

One of our cities is doing just that with its library service.

The Calera library, through a grant provided by the county commission, has made a move to try to meet Hispanic needs.

City officials and especially library director Janet Greathouse are to be commended.

There are now shelves of videos, CDs, magazines and books – all in Spanish.

Hispanic population growth is evident across the county and other city officials should take note of the efforts in Calera.

They make a good model as we move toward the future