ARS interviews Luis González, adjunct general director of the Fundación Germán Sánchez Ruipérez, about Canal Lector—its goals, expectations and all it has to offer to the American users. This interview is featured in the latest issue of ARS's Newsletter, that comes out this week.

What is Canal Lector?

It's a new free portal on the Internet that provides access to the latest information about books in Spanish for children and young adults and about learning tools to foster reading in schools, libraries and the home.

What content can we expect to find on this website?

The site contains bibliographic entries, reviews, and illustrations for almost 10,000 books published in Spain (the great majority), Mexico, Chile, and Venezuela. The books have been selected and reviewed by benchmark institutions in each country, directed by specialists from the Fundación GSR of Spain. Content includes video interviews with the writers, illustrators and publishers of the books, tips for teachers and librarians, the latest news regarding the book world in Spanish, reports, good practices, videos with poems for use in the classroom, and much more.

What is the objective of Canal Lector?

We want for professionals in the reading world to each day to register admiration for our proposals and suggestions, and to say to themselves: "Yes, this is just what is needed." In this regard, we are delighted by the flood of Latin American users who have already registered on the website to take part of a professional community that determines the selection of titles and receives communications from all members. Growth has been exponential in the last few weeks and we believe that professionals in the USA will also participate in this mobilization for the promotion of reading.

What relevant information does the site contain for book professionals in the United States?

The site boasts the most powerful search engine for books in Spanish for children and young adults, offering the most complete listing of new titles on a daily basis. Furthermore, we will shortly launch and implement, with the help of America Reads Spanish, a seal that will guarantee that a book complies with the minimum requirements for the library market in the U.S., such as distribution accessibility, hard cover availability, and appropriate language and typefaces.

Visit Canal Lector at www.canallector.com.