My Library Is...Connecting Communities and Cultures

Our project “My Library Is...Connecting Communities and Cultures” was developed to meet the needs of our community by creating a World Languages Collection focusing on Spanish and Arabic titles. The creation of the World Languages Collection impacts students and community members, library work processes, and community partnerships. The collection is one step in recognizing the language diversity of the Moraine Valley community and creating a more welcoming space for Arabic and Spanish speakers. 

We started the project by reaching out to our campus partners for recommendations to help us determine the reading interests of students and community members. These partners included:  

• Student groups such as the Arab Student Union and Alliance of Latin American Students 
• Faculty teaching Spanish and Arabic language classes 
• Literature and humanities professors 
• Faculty and participants in English Language and Intensive English programs 

We also looked to our library neighbors for support in the development of our collection. Visits and conversations with librarians at Oak Lawn Public Library and Green Hills Public Library were helpful in developing the process of ordering books, selecting vendors, and making decisions about how these titles fit into the collection. 

We focused on purchasing titles that originated in Spanish and Arabic, but also purchased popular English language titles that have been translated into Spanish and Arabic. Although our primary goal was to establish a new World Languages Collection, we also wanted to provide opportunities for readers to connect across languages and cultures. We purchased English language translations for some of the Spanish and Arabic titles so that we could facilitate one-on-one book clubs and create programming for readers to share back to the community about their reading experiences. 

We are excited about the ongoing impact this project will have on our programming. Although students often ask about book groups, the library hasn’t hosted one in years due to the difficulty in scheduling and finding common times across schedules. The one-on-one nature of our cross-cultural book groups will make programming easier to sustain. 

The project has also positively impacted library work processes and the collection overall. In establishing this collection, we had to seek new vendors, develop cataloging processes for world language titles, and decide how this new collection would be made accessible to the community. The World Languages Collection has provided an opportunity to reimagine how we organize and display all of our materials for English language learners. The addition of this collection has also prompted discussions of collecting other languages to expand outreach to our community.  

The “My Library Is...Connecting Communities and Cultures” project provides access for English language learners to reading materials in their native languages, opportunities for heritage learners of Arabic and Spanish to immerse themselves in both the language and culture of their families, and creates the opportunity for students and community members to have shared experiences and conversations despite language differences.  

Today's blog post was written by Tish Hayes (she/her), Information Literacy Librarian/Public Services at Moraine Valley Community College.  

This project was made possible by the My Library Is... Grant.