Introduction
The Connecticut State Library’s Division of Library Development is exploring ways to support libraries in their efforts to provide service to non-English speaking populations. As a starting point, we have coordinated meetings and created an e-mail list to provide a forum for discussion of this topic.
Meetings
March 2004:
Library staff from multicultural and multilingual communities met to discuss:
- How they are reaching out to immigrants and other non-English speakers in their communities
- The challenges of selecting, purchasing, processing and accessing materials in languages other than English
- What types of resources they need to reach out to their increasingly multicultural and multilingual community
The meeting gave us the opportunity to hear about what libraries are currently doing and what challenges they face as they expand services to their community. After sharing all this information the group agreed that it is important to meet on a regular basis to address issues involved in these services and to keep sharing resources. March Meeting Notes
June 2004:
The group met to discuss collection related issues and to tour the Danbury Public Library. In addition to hearing about Danbury’s services for non-English speakers the group took part in an OCLC web presentation on Language Sets. June Meeting Notes
September 2004:
The focus for the workshop was on-line service to non-English speakers and was held at the Ferguson Library in Stamford. September Meeting Notes
March 2005
Hartford Public Library hosted this meeting to describe their very successful LSTA Grant for Home Ownership Resources for the Spanish Speaking and The American Place, an information and resource center for new immigrants and refugees. March meeting notes
February 2006
The Faxon branch of the West Hartford Public Library hosted a meeting to showcase their past LSTA grant and to present Joyce Hamilton Henry, Executive Director of DemocracyWorks, a Connecticut organization that advocates Democratic values. February meeting notes.
October 2006
Libraries serving multilingual populations gathered at the Farmington Public Library on October 19th to share their success stories. A Connecticut Libraries article describes the meeting and the success stories.December 2006
Michelle Eberle from the National Network of Libraries of Medicine gave a presentation on December 14th at the Middletown Library Service Center on Spanish health information resources for English speaking librarians. See the handouts from her presentation.May 2007
Services to Newcomer Families was the topic on May 7th at the Farmington Public Library featuring a presentation by Helen Benoit of the Hamilton (Ontario) Public Library, Celebrating Our Community's Diversity. In addition to hearing about Hamilton's groundbreaking services the day included a discussion of how similar services might be provided in Connecticut.
Welcome E-mail List
As a result of the March discussion the State Library established Welcome, an e-mail discussion list for library staff serving multilingual populations. The purpose of the list is to foster discussion and the sharing of ideas and resources among library staff trying to reach non-English speakers in their communities. Library staff are invited to join and explore ways to make our libraries more welcoming to all members of our communities. Instructions for subscribing
Grants and Projects
For a number of years the State Library has been funding services to Non English Speakers through LSTA grants. Read the stories from some of these projects in Hartford , New Haven and Danbury
In the 2004-2005-grant cycle 9 libraries are receiving grants for Outreach to Non-English Speakers
Upcoming Events
Continuing Education opportunities are being planned to assist libraries in serving multicultural communities.
Stay tuned here at CTWebJunction or subscribe to Welcome for further developments.
Contact
If you would like more information on the State Library’s support of multilingual library services contact Mary Engels or Steve Cauffman
