PolyTalk enhances multicultural library community
About four years ago, a staffer from the Lincoln Trail Libraries System (LTLS) based in Champaign, Ill., visited a local public library.
A couple came in wanting to use the library, but they were Turkish and did not speak English. Some library staffers spoke other languages, but none spoke Turkish. Someone thought to call the nearby University of Illinois where they were successful in finding a person who spoke Turkish. The couple spoke to the university person who then translated to the library staffer. It turns out, the couple wanted to use the photocopier!
Observing this, the Lincoln Trail Libraries System staffer was impressed with the ingenuity of the library staff and saw the larger need that exists in nearly every library around the state. About 1 in 5 Illinois residents speaks a language other than English at home. Unfortunately, no library is able to staff speakers of the some 164 languages spoken in Illinois.
The staff at Lincoln Trail Libraries System brainstormed how the they could help and came up with a two-pronged approach.
First, they envisioned a network of interpreters who would be on-call all around the state. Secondly, they formulated the idea for a kit focused on the 30 languages most commonly spoken in Illinois. The kit is designed to help answer frequently asked queries such as, "How can I find something in the library" or "How can I get a library card?"
Money for the effort was provided by a federal Library Services and Technology grant through the Illinois State Library. In the first year of the grant, the interpreters' network was established. To date, 90 interpreters representing 39 languages have volunteered. It's a great volunteer opportunity for someone with language skills, and you can name your hours. Simply sign up on the PolyTalk Web site (http://www.polytalk.info/); you can be really proud that you are able to help someone in a very personal way.
In the second year of the grant, the interpreters' kit was actually created. The attractive kit, a Lucite filing box the size of a shoe box with cards in it, is easy to use. There is a guide sheet naming 30 languages, both in the language and in English, with a corresponding number. By using numbered cards, the non-English speaking library user can ask a question and the staff can answer. Color coding and numbers make it happen!
This inventive project has been very useful to non-English speakers and to libraries. Jennifer Groth from the Ela Area Public Library assisted a patron using PolyTalk. A man who did not speak English approached the reference desk with a piece of fabric and a metal ring. He gestured to his shoe with the fabric. Jennifer did not understand what he was trying to convey, but she could tell the man was speaking Polish. She logged into PolyTalk, found an interpreter, and was able to help the patron.
PolyTalk has been honored with the SirsiDynix Building Better Communities Award, which recognizes libraries for creative and enterprising uses of technology to improve their user communities, as well as the 2006 Champaign-Urbana International Humanitarian Award in Research and Education.
A number of libraries in our area participate in PolyTalk. Ask your librarian for more information.
Listen to my podcast (www.sarahlong.org/podcast) this week with Lincoln Trail Libraries System Executive Director, Jan Ison, regarding this creative project. Also, tune in to our award winning cable show, "What's New in Libraries" next month for my interview with Lesley Williams, head of information services at Evanston Public Library, and hear her comments on using PolyTalk. To find broadcast times/channels, visit www.whatsnewinlibraries.org.