Community outreach

Re: Community outreach

2008-06-22T13:03:34Z

Hi Rebekah-

We give them to the volunteer firefighters and ambulance personnel to use. We also offer them to the local police when they come in to answer our calls (rowdy kids, nutty patrons), and to the emergency room at the hospital. We don't use those places as distribution points, because we want to get people in to the library, at least once.

Lisa

Re: Community outreach

2008-06-10T21:56:34Z

I love this idea and I'd like to incorporate it into my outreach to the Latino community. I have a question, though. When you say that you distribute the dictionaries to a fire station, for example, does this mean that those coming into the fire station can pick up the dictionaries or that the fire fighters themselves distribute them?

Thanks,
Rebekah

Re: Community outreach

2008-04-23T21:39:59Z

Milly-

I have to chuckle. Our population is about 5000 total and we purchased dictionaries twice so far (In the past few years) the first time we spent $1,000 which was grant money for outreach, and the second time we spent $800 out of our operating budget. The dictionaries worked out to about $5.00 each. We also received some as a gift from our Spanish language book supplier.

Our conversation group is just that -a conversation group. The leader is a woman who worked here for several years before moving out of town. She's back, but not working here and wanted to keep her library connection. She is bilingual and the most important thing she has to offer is the fact that she was completely unable to speak English when she first came to this country. That experience and empathy inform her approach.

I hope this helps.

Lisa

Re: Community outreach

2008-04-23T20:58:11Z

Hi Milly,

Wow! That is great that you have so many bi-lingual staff! Here is a link to a webinar archive we did about Conversation Clubs that might be helpful: http://webjunction.org/do/DisplayContent?id=15571

Cheers,
Laura Staley

Re: Community outreach

2008-04-23T19:36:54Z

Lisa,

Giving out English/Spanish dictionary is a great idea and, with your permission, I would like to suggest it to our library. Do you have an average number of dictionaries that you order?

Our Hispanic population is 76% and 90% of our staff are bilingual in Spanish. However, our biggest hurdle is manpower: 79 staff count for a population of approximately 340,000 residents, makes it difficult in planning new activities. This is why the dictionary idea is so perfect.

I have a question regarding your conversational English classes and, if possible, would like to find out more on how these classes are organized. You can respond to me in this listserve or through my personal email: mlugo@santa-ana.org.

Thanks again for sharing your outreach programs with us!

Milly

Re: Community outreach

2008-04-10T15:52:42Z

Thanks for your post Lisa.

Giving out Spanish/English Dictionaries with a label from your library is such a great idea! And partnering with the Fire Department and Ambulance service is brillant.

I have heard of libraries noticing an impact from even simply keeping a Spanish/English Dictionary available and visible at the circulation and reference desk because it makes Spanish speakers feel more welcome.

Laura Staley

Community outreach

2008-04-06T17:35:50Z

Laura Staley asked me to tell you all what we do here in Greenport. One of the most successful outreach activities we've done was simple, not terribly expensive, and really brings people in for the first time. We give away paperback Spanish/English dictionaries. We put a label on each one in English and Spanish that says that it is a gift from Floyd Memorial Library. We give these out to anyone who comes in who asks for them, or who doesn't have a command of the language, but comes in for a library card, to the volunteer ambulance service, the fire department, the emergency room at the hospital, to anyone who would benefit from a clearer communication. The dictionaries are relatively inexpensive when purchased from a wholesaler like Baker and Taylor.

Another thing we've done is start an English conversation group. We have about twelve to fifteen participants, and an equal number on the waiting list. The group meets once a week, but will end in late April, once the attendees return to flat out working in our farming/resort community.

We've partnered with the local church outreach to host library tours and visits.

This year, the library board agreed to pay towrd the tuition of one of our librarians to attend an immersion Spanish program in Mexico for a month. They have also allowed an additional week's vacation as compensation. Everybody wins.

We have one fully bilingual clerk, one almost fluent Spanish speaker, and I speak some "Library Spanish." Our immediate community has a population that is about 25% Spanish speaking, and the outlying communities that we serve also have some Spanish speakers in their populations.

There are many forces at work here: conflict over housing and jobs, pressure on the local schools, cultural misunderstandings...
The library is a place where everyone feels welcome in our community.