Library use rises as economy falls

By John Laidler

Haverhill assistant library director Susan Katzenstein said the city's public library is usually "an incredibly busy place." But nowadays, "our usage is through the roof."

The Haverhill library is not alone. Across the region, local public libraries are reporting a surge in use, a trend officials tie directly to the economic hardship many are facing.

"As the economy takes a turn downward, more people are rediscovering their local public libraries and the services and resources they offer," said Kendra Amaral, chief of staff to Amesbury Mayor Thatcher W. Kezer III.

According to Amaral, library circulation in Amesbury was up 19 percent this past July compared with July 2007. Haverhill's July circulation was 15 percent higher than the previous July, according to Katzenstein.

Among the 28 member libraries in the North of Boston Library Exchange, combined circulation in July and August was up 4.8 percent over the same months last year, according to NOBLE executive director Ronald Gagnon. The 28 members include 17 local public libraries.

"People don't have as much disposable income, so the library provides an easier resource for books," he said, noting other materials, such as DVDs and CDs, that libraries offer. "It just flies in the face of people who say, 'Who needs libraries anymore?' "

At the Revere public library, circulation in fiscal 2008, which ended June 30, was up 20 percent over the previous year, according to library director Robert E. Rice Jr. He said usage has risen noticeably since then.

"Book prices are $25, $30 for hard covers nowadays, and people just can't afford it," he said. "So it's not that the library ever went anywhere, but people are rediscovering the services provided."

Beverly library director Pat Cirone said the city's library circulation in July was up 16 percent over July 2007, and rose 8.3 percent in fiscal 2008 over the previous year.

Cirone said a staff member reported to her that on a recent Saturday, "they had three check-out stations going and lines on every one of them for hours on end. She's been here over 10 years and she said she has never experienced that kind of demand."

Not only are people opting to borrow books rather than buy them, "they are checking out DVDs, saying they can't afford to go to a video store or to use Netflix anymore," Cirone said.

Georgetown library director Ruth Eifert said her library's circulation in both July and August was at the highest levels for those months in at least six years.

While the completion of the library's expansion and renovation last fall is a draw, Eifert said the economy is another. As evidence, she said she has noticed more people willing to wait for a best-selling book - even if it takes a few weeks - as an alternative to purchasing it. She said the library's magazines are also in "constant use," suggesting many are getting rid of their subscriptions to cut costs.

The high demand for use of their computers is another indicator of the boom in library use, officials say.

Rice said Revere maintains 32 computers for public use and they are "jammed constantly. . . . Often, especially in the afternoon, there are lines of people waiting for them."

Computer users include students after school, seniors e-mailing family and friends, and - in another sign of the times - adults conducting job searches, Rice said.

"A lot of places nowadays you can only apply on line" for a job, said Cirone, who also sees job seekers at her terminals. "That's tough for someone who can't afford the Internet or might not have a computer."

Cirone said she also has patrons who regularly use the library's computer to check their e-mail because they have given up their own Internet accounts to save money.

In Everett, the city's library circulation was up 36 percent in July compared with July of last year, while computer use was up 23 percent, according to library director Deborah Abraham. She said the pickup in demand became evident when gas prices started spiraling.

"I just think people really felt the pinch when that happened," she said. With all the money they were spending on gas, "they were looking for other things to cut back on," seeing the library as an alternative to going to the movies or purchasing books.

Library officials say they welcome the increased traffic.

"For us, it's always good to see new people," said Salem library director Lorraine Jackson, whose library's combined circulation in July and August was 8 percent higher than during the same months last year. "The more people in the community that are aware of the library, the better the library and the better the community."

At the same time, some librarians express concerns about their ability to accommodate growing numbers of patrons as their own budgets become tighter.

"We hope people realize that in tough times, it's important to keep the library service going so people have a place to come," Abraham said.

© Copyright 2008 Globe Newspaper Company.

Serving Linguistically and Culturally Diverse Students: Strategies for the School Librarian

by Dame, Melvina Azar

The promotion of literacy is the most essential element in the design of school library services to a linguistically and culturally diverse student population. Librarians are faced with the challenge of linking students from widely varying backgrounds to information sources and drawing them into patterns of regular library use. By creating a positive climate, the school library can provide English as a second language (ESL) students with a place for learning, sharing, and personal growth. This digest discusses ways the librarian in one high school fostered a positive environment in the school library for ESL students and broadened the role of the school library in effecting literacy experiences for these students.

A WELCOMING PLACE

To lessen fear of the unfamiliar, ESL students were introduced to the library at a time when no other classes were there. Each student was given a diagram of the library, then walked through each area beginning at the entrance. Hands-on activities were provided, such as practice in using the copy machine. Thereafter, students returned to the library on an individual basis, or in pairs, with a specific request to the librarian; at this time, individual explanations and demonstrations were given of the various areas and their uses. Eventually, students were sent to the librarian with individual assignments. By this time, students were familiar with the library staff and did not hesitate to approach them for help. Students were encouraged to use the library before school, after school, and during study hall periods. As a result, the ESL students found the library to be a safe and welcoming place and became frequent users.

THE COLLECTION

To draw ESL students into a pattern of regular library use, the library established a collection of reading materials in their first languages. To meet the full range of interests and reading abilities, collections of fiction and non-fiction books in Spanish, Arabic, and Portuguese were borrowed for extended periods through Interlibrary Loan. With school library funds, a small collection of Portuguese books, a weekly Portuguese newspaper, a Spanish newspaper, and foreign language dictionaries were purchased. Spanish magazines were contributed by the Spanish language teacher.

High-interest, low-reading-level paperbacks in English were borrowed from a local public library's literacy collection. At the request of the ESL teacher, these books were housed in the ESL classroom for easy access during classroom times. A listening station with a cassette player and headphone and a collection of read-along books in English were made available in the library conference room. Most books were classics that are required reading for high school students. In addition, a collection of wordless books was borrowed from several public libraries. Many elementary school ESL teachers report multiple uses of these books, including promotion of oral language and conversation skills, development of sequence and prediction skills, and development of vocabulary skills.

RESOURCES FOR TEACHERS

For all students, but especially for ESL students, the optimal learning process involves connecting new ideas with old knowledge. To provide materials required for this, the librarian introduced the use of advanced organizers, an essential instructional strategy proposed by Ausubel (1960) to enhance classroom learning. Ausubel maintained that the information-processing system of humans is a set of ideas that provides anchors for new information or ideas, that in turn provides a storehouse when new meanings are acquired. Central to enhancing the learning process for students with language needs is the technique of building learning upon prior learning and knowledge. Based on this view of how learners process information, and the realization that much of the material to be learned by ESL students is completely new and unrelated to anything they know, the librarian created opportunities for ESL students to gain essential prior knowledge through the use of advance organizers. Collaboration between the librarian and the ESL teacher resulted in a list of key themes and subject areas related to the ESL text and curriculum. Appropriate materials were acquired, borrowed, and collected by the librarian for use in both the media center and in the ESL classroom. Because this strategy relies heavily on visuals and pictorial materials, a picture file was developed for advance organizers. To collect materials suitable for use as advance organizers, the librarian used references for collecting visuals with pictures of all kinds, especially designed for second language learners (Maley, Duff, & Grellet, 1981), a directory of resource organizations (Joramo, 1979), and various bibliographies (Dame, 1993).

COLLABORATION WITH OTHER AGENCIES

The school library organized a program with speakers on occupations, career choices, and vocational and education options for the ESL students through the local community college. Representing the college were an admissions officer, a Spanish-speaking counselor from Access to Opportunity (a counseling and mentor program for ESL, at-risk, low-income, and disadvantaged students), and a Spanish-speaking counselor from the Education Opportunity Center (a pre-admission center for ESL students needing counseling in language competency, financial aid, admission requirements, GED information, etc.). The program was held in Spanish and English in the school library with an interpreter for the Portuguese students. Follow-up appointments were made and the counselor from the Educational Opportunity Center returned weekly to the school library for individual counseling.

MULTICULTURAL ACTIVITIES

The school library has a unique role in the integration of cultural differences within the school community. Because library services are essential to all segments of the school population and school activities, the librarian holds a strategic position as an integrator, coordinator, negotiator, unifier, and equalizer.
While a class of English-speaking students was researching Christmas customs around the world, the ESL class was researching Christmas traditions in the United States. The librarian offered to co-ordinate an intercultural program between the two classes to exchange Christmas customs and traditions.

When the ESL students were researching the history and foods of Thanksgiving, the librarian proposed the preparation of a Thanksgiving dinner. Ultimately, the ESL teacher had a Thanksgiving dinner brought into her class for her students. Among the numerous resources and bibliographies available on the subject of multicultural materials, Miller-Lachmann (1992) and Dame (1993) are suggested as a starting point.

LITERACY ACTIVITIES

One literacy activity took shape when the school librarian observed that senior students were assigned to the high school library for Spanish IV Independent Study. It seemed that there were opportunities for these students to improve their Spanish literacy if Spanish-speaking students could be in the library at the same time. This would help the Spanish-speaking students improve their English literacy skills and would help to promote multicultural understanding. By consulting with the ESL teacher, Spanish-speaking ESL students were identified and an examination of their schedules showed that some of them could be scheduled into the library for the same period as the Spanish IV students. Alliances were formed with the Spanish and ESL teachers, and two student literacy groups were formed. Students were informed by the teachers of the purpose of the groups, and that they would be graded by the librarian for effort and participation. Spanish/English dictionaries were available at each meeting.

Initial sessions were centered around oral communication in Spanish and English. Because the students were strangers to each other, the flow of conversation of these early sessions was directed by the librarian.

In the beginning, there were periods of silence. However, as the meetings progressed, barriers were overcome and the project took on a life of its own. Conversation became natural and comfortable. Students began requesting a non-directed format of conversation. Spanish was spoken during half of the period, and English was spoken during the other half. At times, conversations and discussions would alternate between Spanish-speaking students speaking in English, while English-speaking students responded in Spanish. At other times, the order would be reversed.

Culture-specific dialogues were created. For example, when teenage culture in Mexico and the United States was explored, recognition of similarities and differences clarified false assumptions and generalizations. As English-speaking students sought knowledge and information about the social, cultural, economic, and political issues of Mexico, the Spanish-speaking students became information givers, thus gaining a new status.

Following the oral communicative stage, the group moved on to reading in both Spanish and English. Following the reading of each article, students translated the article in their own words, then each student provided an individual interpretation of the article in English and Spanish.

The writing segment of this literacy activity began with students agreeing to be ethnographers by observing what was happening in and outside of class, at school functions, and in interactions between ESL students and native-English-speaking students. Students agreed to keep a journal to record their observations of differences and to reflect on whether these differences were cultural. This served as a springboard to multicultural understanding.

Finally, journal writing was introduced between students in both languages. Through journal writing, a sense of developing friendships was observed. Noticeable, also, was the interaction of these students as they met between classes and in the hallways.

Although initiated as a literacy activity, these group meetings also produced a greater appreciation and understanding of cultural diversity, empowered students, and provided an opportunity for friendships to form. The English-speaking students began to acknowledge the expertise of the Spanish-speaking students and sought help from them more often than from the dictionary. In turn, the Spanish-speaking students developed new friends and were empowered by their new helping role.

CONCLUSION

The development of skills in using the library and its resources is an essential part of learning English. Non-native English speakers may have an even greater need for library skills than native speakers. Although they may not have achieved the English proficiency necessary for expressing their learning needs, they may need information that native speakers take for granted. ESL students must be given the tools that will enable them to succeed in the American education system (Dame, 1993). The activities described here were implemented with the hope that through access to information and knowledge, ESL students can become equal participants in society.

REFERENCES

Ausubel, D.P. (1960). The use of advance organizers in the learning and retention of meaningful verbal material. "Journal of Educational Psychology," 51, 267-272.

Dame, M.A. (1993). "Serving linguistically and culturally diverse students: Strategies for the school library media specialist." New York: Neal-Schuman.

Joramo, M.K. (1979). "Directory of ethnic publishers and resource organizations." Chicago: American Library Association.

Maley, A., Duff, A., & Grellet, F. (1981)."The mind's eye: Using pictures creatively in language learning." Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Miller-Lachmann, L. (1992). "Our family, our friends, our world: An annotated guide to significant multicultural books for children and teenagers. New Jersey: R.R. Bowker.

Copyright Note

This webpage is a copy of the ERIC Digest, Serving Linguistically and Culturally Diverse Students: Strategies for the School Librarian published by the US Federal government. ERIC Digests are in the public domain and may be freely reproduced and disseminated. The text from that digest on this page is in the public domain. All other information on this page (including the arrangment of the subject matter) is copyright (c) 2003 Michael Lorenzen.

Working with Campus Writing Centers: Opportunities for Cooperation

Michael Lorenzen

Selling library instruction on the academic campus can be hard. Yet, instruction librarians are not alone in trying to reach faculty and students. Other campus units dedicated to serving the needs of students also have difficulty in reaching those that they serve. One good example of this is campus writing centers. By working with campus writing centers, instruction librarians can better reach those they are trying to serve and also help to advance the cause of an important and needed campus service.

In the February 2000 issue of College & Research Libraries News, Carol Anne Germain in an article lists 99 ways to market the library on campus. One of these approaches is working with the campus writing center. But how does one go about doing this? At Michigan State University, the Library Instruction Unit of the Main Library has had a successful relationship with the Writing Center at MSU. This article will list several steps that can be used to approach a writing center on campus and how this approach was successful at Michigan State University.

1. Meet with writing center staff- To start this process, find out who runs the writing center. If you are lucky, the writing center will be listed in the campus directory. On many campuses, tutoring students on writing is combined with tutoring students in other subjects such as math and languages as well. It may have a name such as Learning Resources Center or Student Skills Center for example. If you have difficulty locating the writing center, ask a writing instructor on campus if one exists and what it is called.

At Michigan State University- Shortly after I began working as the Library Instruction Coordinator, I attended a new faculty orientation on campus. This included a faculty resource fair. The Writing Center was represented at the fair and I was able to meet the Director of the Writing Center. I was invited to tour the Writing Center and meet their staff. I accepted this invitation and visited shortly thereafter. I then invited the Writing Center staff to tour the library. They came to the library and learned what was available for students and faculty. These two visits made it possible for each both parties to understand when referrals of students to each other were appropriate. It also allowed each side to make sure up-to-date handouts where available at the other location.

2. Attend presentations by writing center staff- Just like the instruction librarian does, writing center staff gives presentations to faculty and students on campus. For students, these are usually requested by individual instructors. Oftentimes though, they are part of larger seminar series for faculty and staff. When you read announcements for presentations on teaching writing to students or ways of incorporating writing across the curriculum, register and attend them. As an instruction librarian, you should be leaving the library as often as possible to network and get your message out anyway. It is a good bet that writing center staff will be there either as presenters or as members of the audience. Seek them out and speak to them. Let them know that you as a librarian care about writing. Hopefully, they should remember you well from your recent visiting. You will also learn about additional opportunities that may allow you work with the writing center more. (See number three below.)

At Michigan State University- The staff of the MSU Writing Center speak as a part of several campus series. The most important of these is the Lilly Seminar Series on Teaching and Learning. They talk about issues ranging from helping students write better term papers to dealing with plagiarism. Many librarians, not just those from the Library Instruction Unit, attend these and make themselves known to the presenters.

3. Participate in in-depth workshops- If you are fortunate enough to work on a campus where the writing center offers courses or in-depth workshops for faculty and staff, register and attend them. This may be a week or semester long commitment. It is well worth the time to attend. Again, you will get to learn about writing issues that are relevant to you as a teaching librarian. You will also be able to add to the discussion by explaining in class to the teachers and other attendees of the workshop how the library can aid students in the writing process.

At Michigan State University- The MSU Writing Center every year offers a three-week long intensive workshop called the Faculty Writing Project. I was able to attend this several years ago. The group of faculty participating meets Monday through Friday all three weeks from early in the morning until late in the afternoon. The mornings were used for the participants to give presentations on how they used writing in the classroom. I used my morning slot to demonstrate how I as a librarian supported writing on campus and how I helped students write. The afternoons were dedicated to writing in small peer groups. The goal of the Faculty Writing Project was for each workshop participant to have a publishable manuscript that could be submitted to a scholarly journal at the end of the workshop. My manuscript was published in the Journal of Library Administration.

The Faculty Writing Project has been so successful over the years that the "alumni" of the program have clambered for more. This has led to the creation of the Advanced Faculty Writing Project for previous participants. I was asked to speak at the first of these last year. My presentation focused on librarians helping faculty identify plagiarized papers.

4. Co-present with writing center staff- The instruction librarian and the staff of the writing center have a lot in common in helping students with the writing process. This leads to natural collaborations between the two. If you have made yourself known to the writing center, and have been visible and supportive at writing center events, the staff of the writing center should be receptive to overtures to jointly give presentations to faculty or student groups.

At Michigan State University- My presentation at the Advanced Faculty Writing Project led to me being asked to give a presentation with a Writing Center staff member on dealing with student plagiarism for the Lilly Faculty series. This presentation was able to show faculty how two "support" units were actually very useful to the faculty in their dealing with students.

5. Give the writing center space in the library- If you have a supportive administration that is receptive to the idea, give the writing center space in the library to open a satellite branch. Find a few tables in a busy patron area or an office and allow the writing center to have writing tutors in the library. This will be very popular with undergraduate students who get stuck while writing a paper in the library. It may even bring patrons into the library exclusively to make use of this service. With a little cross training, writing tutors will be able to refer students who need assistance with research to the reference desk. And reference librarians can refer patrons who need help with writing to the writing center satellite location in the library.

At Michigan State University- In the Spring Semester of 2000, the MSU Writing Center opened a satellite branch in the Main Library. It operated on a trial basis to see how well it would work. It was overwhelmingly successful and it became a new permanent service of the library in Fall 2000. The Assistant Instruction Librarian is acting as a liaison to the Writing Center on the project.

The writing center is a useful resource on any campus. It is important and needed by many students. The instruction librarian can gain a lot of exposure on campus by getting to know and finding opportunities to work with writing center staff. With a little effort and a willingness to get out of the library and work on campus wide projects, the librarian can really benefit the library by working with a campus writing center.

(Michael Lorenzen is no longer at MSU and can not answer questions on the current status of this project at MSU.)

Copyright (c) 2002, Michael Lorenzen. All rights reserved.