Preparing your library for the multilingual world

OCLC Language Sets can help you build collections in 13 non-English languages. Altoona (Iowa) Public Library and Seattle (Washington) Public Library use the service to help meet the demands of their culturally changing communities.

An analysis of Census Bureau data shows that the U.S. foreign-born population reached a record 35 million in March 2005. The data also indicate that the first half of this decade has been the highest five-year period of immigration in American history.

To serve these rapidly growing communities of diverse ethnic groups, libraries need to offer non-English materials but often lack the expertise to select and catalog non-English titles for their collections. OCLC Language Sets can help.

Language Sets allow English-speaking librarians to build multilingual collections. Books are cataloged in full MARC format and arrive ready to shelve, with holdings already set in WorldCat. Languages available are: Arabic, Bengali, Chinese, Gujarati, Hindi, Japanese, Korean, Panjabi, Russian, Spanish, Tamil, Urdu and Vietnamese.

Here’s how two public libraries use Language Sets for their needs.

Altoona Public Library, Altoona, Iowa

A suburb of Des Moines, Iowa, with a population of 14,000, Altoona is a rapidly growing town with immigrants from Mexico, China and Sudan moving into the area. The library turned to OCLC Language Sets to help welcome these groups into the community and become a part of the library.

Language Sets promotional posters helped attract Chinese immigrants to the library .

“We really like what OCLC Language Sets has to offer,” says Dan Bakke, Library Director. “The sets have been put together with insight and common sense. They save us a lot of time since, as a small library, we usually have three or four other things to do at any one time!”

The biggest success story has been with Chinese immigrants, Bakke says, who at first were not using the library. Bakke took a Language Sets promotional poster to a local Chinese restaurant to create awareness and interest in the Chinese collection they were building.

Now, the Chinese set is a big mover. “Our new Chinese American citizens are coming into the library and getting cards and using the Chinese collection, as well as English titles as second language books, along with books in English and Chinese for their children. One woman even volunteers to help us keep our Chinese collection in proper order.”

Recently, several immigrants from Sudan moved to Altoona, and the library purchased the Arabic collection, which was perfect for their needs, Bakke says. The library’s first purchase in 2005, compliments of a local grant, was for Spanish books.

Seattle Public Library, Seattle, Washington

The Seattle Public Library receives preselected sets for five languages offered through the OCLC Language Sets service to support its large, world collection of 50 non-English languages. Six shipments per year of 25 volumes in Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Russian and Vietnamese languages include fiction and nonfiction titles for both adults and children. Chinese is the most heavily circulating language, reflecting local demographics.

Regular shipments of fully cataloged materials from Language Sets enable the library to offer full access to non-English collections through their online public access catalog, as well as effectively plan and coordinate additions to the collection, says Tom Horne, Manager, Collection Services.

“All materials are added to our permanent circulating collection for use throughout the library system,” he says.

Welcome Pages in four languages and OCLC Language Sets are part of the library's increased efforts to reach Seattle's cultural communities.

Horne noted that the Language Sets service supports a larger library program launched in 2004 called the “Cultural Communities Project,” which is dedicated to reaching out to immigrants and refugees.

“As Seattle’s immigrant population expands, the library has several key initiatives underway to increase services for immigrants, including English as a Second Language Talk Times, World Language Web pages and summer reading programs. Library staff is active in community outreach, sponsoring book talks and attending community events that target non-English reading residents.”

Horne added that a new branch in the city’s Chinatown district opened in 2005 with collections in Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Tagalog and Vietnamese. An expanded collection in another branch featured more titles in Chinese, Spanish, Tagalog and Vietnamese. A new branch opened in August with 30 percent of its collection in Spanish. Circulation of all of these materials is growing.

“Any library needing additions to foreign language collections and who lack the ability to coordinate cataloging activities locally can benefit from purchasing language sets,” Horne says.

What other libraries are saying about OCLC Language Sets

“We were excited when we first learned that we could acquire Russian language books from OCLC. We had a growing demand for Russian language materials that we could not address because we lacked the language skills needed to collect these materials. Our users have appreciated this growing collection.”

Dan Howard
Director of Public Services
North Central Regional Library
Wenatchee Washington

“Our cataloging manager has found the entire process pain-free and encourages anyone she meets to purchase the language sets. The materials are good quality and hold up well.”

Deanna Street
Readers’ Advisory Librarian
Carmel Clay Public Library
Carmel, Indiana