Yesterday I saw a bumper sticker that said “Uncle Sam wants you to speak English!” The bumper sticker reminded me of Julia Stephen’s recent article in American Libraries advocating that libraries should provide only English materials. The bumper sticker and the article both made me cringe. I strongly disagree with Ms. Stephen’s arguments but I would rather focus here on practical ways that libraries can address similar “English Only” sentiments they are facing in their own communities.

Two weeks ago I attended a Spanish Language Outreach Workshop in Beaverton, Oregon. Trainers Lucy Iraola and Lorie Vik facilitated a great discussion about how libraries can make the case for serving Spanish speakers and providing materials in Spanish. Here is a list of arguments and tactics local librarians brainstormed.

• The mission of the library is to serve the community, the WHOLE community.
• If we don’t serve this growing segment of the community we miss the opportunity to create future library users and this perpetuates their lack of English skills.
• Have you ever tried to learn a new language?  How long did it take you to become fluent?  Were you learning while you were working and caring for your family?
• Historically it has taken immigrant families a generation to become fluent in English. According to a new Pew Hispanic research report, 2nd generation immigrants are learning English at dramatically increasing rates.
• The vast majority of immigrants want to learn English but they lack the time and resources to learn.  The library can serve as a bridge to help them learn English.
• Historically libraries have served the needs of immigrant groups and helped them adapt to life in the U.S. One hundred years ago libraries were helping German, Polish, Russian, and Italian immigrants.

Participants also suggested knowing the specific statistics of your own community (e.g., the high school drop out rate of Latinos in our community is x). They also suggested collecting the stories and anecdotes about how the library has helped Spanish-speaking patrons to show the benefit to the community (e.g., this patron learned basic computers skills and was able to apply for a job online.  He now works for x business and is contributing to the tax base of our community).

Here are several other resources for making the case to serve Spanish speakers from the SLO workshop curriculum:
• 10 Reasons We Buy Spanish Books – By Al Milo
• Spanish Translation of the Library Bill of Rights
• REFORMA Language Rights
• Archive from WebJunction’s recent webinar on Effectively Addressing Anti-Immigrant Sentiment

Several leaders in the library community have written passionate responses to Ms. Stephen’s article. Check out these responses from:
REFORMA president, Mario Ascencio
Kathleen de la Peña McCook, Professor, University of South Florida, Tampa
Stephen Krashen, Professor Emeritus, University of Southern California.