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Language Accesibility in the Library

Mel Hall

Created on July 4, 2023

an analyisis of the demographics and language accessibility of Buncombe County Libraries

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Transcript

Population

Foreign Born Population

Works Cited and Further Reading:

The total population of Buncombe County is 271,530 as of 2021.

6.2% of Buncombe County residents (just under 17,000 people) were born outside the United States.

https://www.mybib.com/b/1JLlPz

Language Spoken At Home

Countries of Origin

Buncombe County Libraries

4.5%

31.8%

4.2%

13,432

227,001

1,929

United Kingdom

Mexico

Ukraine

Spanish

English Only

Russian and Slavic Languages

The Equity & Inclusion Workgroup with the county is focused on building a sustainable culture of equity, diversity and inclusion in our community. While inequities and lack of inclusion exist across all areas - race, gender, age, sexual orientation, ability, and more, we are beginning with racial equity because of pronounced disparities in this area.

Catalog

Staff Spotlight

Unfortuantely, users cannot change the language of the catalog without third party software. However, the county offers 9379 items in Spanish and 323 in Russian.

Ann Schapira Ann is the Youth Specialist at South Buncombe branch, and is fluent in English and Spanish. She hosts a bilingual story time every week.

Signage

Summer Reading

However, the most visible equity steps I've seen taken within the library system relate to language accessibilty.

This spring, every branch recieved new signage for sections of the library (Adult Fiction, Juvenile NonFiction, etc.) written in English, Spanish, and Russian.

The system is offering many entertaining programs this year, including a musical, bilingual program called Being Bilingual Rocks! by Alina Celeste y Mi Amigo Hamlet.