![]() ![]() Identify locations in each branch service area where Spanish-speakers congregate and/or share information and then visit those locations in order to promote library services and begin developing partnerships.Visit targeted branches to provide customer service and Spanish read-alouds for children once a week.Locate branches with a large number of Spanish-speaking residents in their service area and no bilingual staff.After investigating how other libraries have engaged in outreach to their Spanish-speaking population, we determined that I would: My summer responsibilities were delegated so that I could focus on this project specifically for the 8 weeks of CML's summer reading club. The purpose of this outreach project was to learn more about the Spanish-speaking community in Columbus. How did your Outreach Program for Spanish-speakers get started?Īfter attending a WebJunction Spanish Language Outreach training, I worked with my supervisor to develop an outreach plan. What we knew less about, however, was how the Spanish-speaking community networks to share information, how they use the library (if at all), and what types of services they look to the library to provide. We had responded to this demographic information by forming some partnerships which allowed us to provide services for Spanish-speakers, such as free English classes in three of our branches. We also knew that over 4,000 children under the age of 5 in Franklin County are Hispanic in origin. We knew that there are two Spanish newspapers in Columbus, Fronteras and La Voz Hispana. We knew that the Spanish-speakers in Columbus tend to live in specific communities: there is a large community on the west side (Hilltop area), the east side (Whitehall area), and the north side (Northern Lights area). 31% of that group speaks Spanish as their primary language. We knew that as of 2005, 12.1% of the Columbus population speaks a language other than English at home. Prior to our outreach project, most of what we knew about our Hispanic community was demographic. We have large, emerging communities of Hispanic and Somali immigrants. ![]() Our city is becoming increasingly diverse. The Columbus Metropolitan Library (CML) serves Ohio's capital city through a main library and 20 branches. She describes an outreach project she conducted for Columbus Metropolitan Library in the summer of 2007 in order to learn more about the Spanish-speaking community in Columbus, Ohio. Cunningham is the 2008 winner of the WebJunction Diversity Fair Scholarship for best outreach activity from a Spanish Language Outreach workshop participant. Katie Cunningham is a Spanish Language Program Specialist at Columbus Metropolitan Library and a Graduate Assistant at the Kent State University School of Library and Information Science. ![]() Columbus Metropolitan Library reaches out to learn more about their Spanish-speaking population ![]()
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