[Publib] Teaching Students W/O English Proficiency

[Ed Rossman]

Hi,

In the late 90’s we had an incredible increase in the local Albanian population, and had the same type of problems, except we didn’t have any classes patrons had to pay for. I worked in a technology center with 20 public access computers. 

We were able to identify Albanian patrons with a decent command of English and asked them for help developing a web page that contained a FAQ about the library (services and policies) as well as explanations about email and links to news sources from their homeland in their own language. We had the same FAQ in English, so a staff member could read through the English FAQ based on the situation and point towards the right spot on the Albanian FAQ. 

We also hired an Albanian high school student with good English and technical skills to aid in explaining things. He spent a lot of time up there playing games and emailing friends, so we knew he knew his stuff. He jumped at the chance to help out and get paid for it. Became one of our best workers. 

Eventually the web pages we made, with the help of other high school resources (these were great extra credit projects), morphed into French, Spanish and German. People from Eastern Europe, Central or South America, and much of the African continent can usually understand one of these languages. We eventually also created pages in Arabic and Romanian. 

Good luck,
Ed Rossman, Adult Services
Shaker Heights Public Library
(P)(216)991-2030 - www.shakerlibrary.org

Author, Castles Against Ignorance:
How to make libraries great educational environments
http://www.castles411.com/