Serving Non-English Speakers in Public Libraries

Hubschman, Amy

ALA Office for Research and Statistics (2007) Serving Non-English Speakers in U.S. Public Libraries: 2007 Analysis of Demographics, Programs and Services. Retrieved from http://www.ala.org/offices/sites/ala.org.offices/files/content/olos/nonenglishspeakers/docs/Linguistic_Isolation_Report-2007.pdf

Summary:
This report, conducted by the ALA, discusses the services and programs offered by 480 public libraries across the United States.  The ALA used surveys to find out specifically what kind of services and programs libraries were offering their Non-English speakers, as well as, what kinds of programs and services were requested by their non-English speakers.  The goal of the research was to summarize the current non-English language trends found in libraries across the country and suggest ways libraries can remove any "language barriers" their patrons may face while utilizing the public library.

Evaluation:
The findings from the ALA report highlight the growing importance of the Spanish language and cultural in our country.  The report indicates that Spanish will be the predominant home language of U.S. school children, as well as, the majority of library patrons by 2020.  The paper lists ideas that libraries and librarians can use to help alleviate some of the barriers their non-English speaking patrons may face.  Some of the simple but effective ideas the report listed were: displaying a "welcome" sign in English and Spanish, offering informal ESL classes to patrons, offering storytime to toddlers in Spanish,  etc.

Building a Multicultural School Library

Hubschman, Amy Resource:

Agosto, D. E. (2007). Building a multicultural school library: Issues and challenges. Teacher Librarian, 34(3), 27-31.

Summary:
This article discusses the many problems, issues, and obstacles that libraries encounter when developing a collection that can properly meet the needs of a culturally diverse community.  The author suggests there are a set of five specific criteria to use when developing a collection for a multicultural community.  The author further suggests that librarians should follow the criteria to ensure that ELL patrons feel connected and correctly represented in the library.    

Evaluation:

Living in a central suburb area of Texas I found this article extremely helpful and relevant to me on a personal level.  I don’t speak Spanish and considering many of the patrons I will eventually encounter do I find it very important to understand their needs in developing a library collection.  ELL patrons should be adequately represented in my future library and understanding the specific issues one might encounter when obtaining materials for them is important to be aware of.  
One of the five criteria listed by the author was “accuracy”.  Spanish is not always the same.  The Spanish speaking world is very diverse.  Teaching at a school with a high Hispanic enrollment I've already seen the struggles our librarian has faced trying to find accurate materials.  She has to know the students, know where they come from, and know which forms of Spanish they speak and which forms they read.  Do the students speak Latin American Spanish, Castilian Spanish, Trade Winds Spanish, or another form?
It’s important for students to be properly represented in their libraries.  Without an accurate representation of themselves the students will have a much harder time developing a sense of ownership and belonging to their libraries.