Spanish is the No.1 Non-English Language Used in Public Libraries

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Debra Lau Whelan -- School Library Journal, 3/26/2008 2:05:00 PM

Some 78 percent of libraries nationwide say they develop programs and services in Spanish, the number one non-English language used in public libraries these days, says a new study released by the American Library Association (ALA).

Asian languages ranked number two at 29 percent, and Indo-European languages came in next at 17.6 percent, says “Serving Non-English Speakers in U.S. Public Libraries,” the first national survey to examine the range of specialized library services for non-English speakers.

About 21 million people in the United States speak limited or no English, 50 percent more than a decade ago. And as the nation’s demographics continue to change, public libraries are ramping up efforts to meet these demands.

Libraries reported that the most successful programs and services for non-English speakers were English as a Second Language (ESL), language-specific materials and collections, computer use and computer classes, story time, and special programs.

"Libraries are places for education, self-help, and lifelong learning," says ALA President Loriene Roy. "The findings presented in this study can provide a venue for developing better and more precise library materials, services, and programs for those linguistically isolated. It is our hope that libraries, library supporters, and the research community will find this study valuable as a planning tool to better serve non-English speaking users."

Although most people believe that non-English speakers live in large, urban settings, the opposite is true, the report says. Public libraries in communities with fewer than 100,000 residents are the majority of libraries meeting the demands of non-English speaking residents. More than 53 percent of residents in smaller communities traveled between one and three miles to reach a library, and another 21 percent traveled between four and six miles for library service.

Surprisingly, getting to the library wasn’t the most difficult barrier to library use. Literacy and reading scored higher (76 percent) when it came to having a negative impact on non-English speakers visiting the library. Knowledge of the services offered by the library was the second most frequent barrier to their participation (74.7 percent). And a lack of discretionary time was the third most common barrier (73.1 percent).