Services for Immigrant
Populations
By Morgan McMillian, Kit
Pilgrim, and Orquidia
Contreras
Historical Overview
By Morgan McMillian
Overview
• There’s no definitive history as to
how public libraries handled
immigrant populations.
• Individual libraries managed their
services differently.
• Articles in print give opinions, but
practice was not necessarily the
same.
Librarians as Contributors
• Even with debate, it is a
common belief that public
libraries were genuinely
committed to helping
immigrants.
• Librarians made a lasting
contribution in the lives of
immigrants.
New Profession
• ALA was established in 1876 and
struggled to define the role of the
public librarian.
• Immigrant services helped
determine profession.
Americanization
• Second wave of immigrants struggled to
fit into society.
• Public libraries were used to attempt to
Americanize immigrants.
• Instead of simply giving services to
immigrants, librarians learned from
others in a mutually beneficial
relationship.
• Term changed to ‘internationalize.’
Services for Immigrants
• Foreign language books
• English classes
• Simple English books for
beginning readers
• Resources for citizenship
information
• Cultural activities
• Community center
• Translation center
• Traveling libraries
Proactive Outreach
• Leaflets to neighborhoods, shops,
grocery stores, churches, schools, etc.
• Home visits
• ‘Welcome to the Library’ signs in five
different languages
• Publicity in foreign language
newspapers
• Slide shows in various languages
describing services offered
Committee for Work with the
Foreign Born
Mission:
“to collect from libraries and
supply to them information on the
desirable methods of assisting in
the education of the foreign born in
American ideals and customs and
the English language.”
CWFB
• ALA established committee in 1924.
• Appointed publisher James Foster Carr first
director.
• Recommended foreign language books to
purchase.
• Provided handbook for immigrant services.
• Established clearinghouse for information on
book buying and selection.
• Developed cooperative network.
Three Sample Locations
• Cleveland, Ohio
• Chicago, Illinois
• Queens, New York
Cleveland, Ohio
•
•
•
•
Progressive approach
Actively sought patrons in community
Taught citizenship classes
Created interlibrary loan within
branches
• Hired bilingual staff members
• Led by literary lion Eleanor Ledbetter
Eleanor Ledbetter
• 1890-1978
• Previously, a UT
cataloguer
• Saw library position
as social worker
• Active in community
• Traveled abroad to
find foreign language
books
• Chaired CWFB
Eleanor Ledbetter
• “It is not a philanthropy, not an
exhibition of noble generosity on
our part, not a condescension; it is
just a straightforward necessary
part of extending the service of the
library, the use of books, and
reading, to the whole community.”
Chicago, Illinois
• Rapidly changing ethnic nature of
city and huge population growth
• Delivery stations could not meet
needs, so major expansion
Chicago Public Library
• 1909 Commission recommendation
urged librarians to “act in the spirit
of aggressive helpfulness rather
than inactive guardianship.”
• CPL as local resource, not just
book depository
CPL Challenges
• Acquiring foreign language
materials
• Lack of bilingual staff members
• Budget constraints
• Matching words and deeds in the
local branches
Queens Borough Public
Library
• 2000 census reported almost half
foreign born and 54% speak a
language other than English at
home.
• Most ethnically diverse county in
U.S.
• New Americans Program began in
1977.
New Americans Program
Goals
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Attract newcomers
Hire staff with language capabilities
Acquire appropriate materials
Provide ESOL classes
Introduce computer services
Offer cultural activities
Operate Mail-a-Book program
Changes
• CWFB renamed the Committee on
Intercultural Action in 1948
• Committee lost funding and
support
• Committee on Intercultural Action
disbanded in 1957
• Other ALA committees took over
those responsibilities
Changes
• National Origins Act in 1924 altered the
scope of immigration in the country.
• The Great Depression emphasized class
divisions over cultural ones.
• World War II gave immigrants new
economic opportunities and allegiances
to the U.S.
• Urgency of Americanization effort
passed.
Why?
Arguments for
Providing Immigrant
Services
Kit Pilgrim
These are our communities:
• Approximately 33.5 million
immigrants in the U.S.
today
• 12.5 percent of the U.S.
population
• 600,000-700,000 legal
immigrants arrive each year
• 27,000 refugees arrive each
year
• An estimated 500,000800,00 undocumented
immigrants arrive each
year.
• Population of immigrants is
growing 6 1/2 times faster
than native born population
2006 U.S.
Census Data
Percent of Population:
2006 U.S.
Census Data
Geography
California
New York
New Jersey
Nevada
Florida
Hawaii
Texas
Arizona
Massachusetts
Illinois
Connecticut
District of
Columbia
Rhode Island
United States
Washington
Maryland
Colorado
New Mexico
Virginia
Oregon
Georgia
Utah
Delaware
Alaska
Percent
27.2
21.6
20.1
19.1
18.9
16.3
15.9
15.1
14.1
13.8
12.9
12.7
12.6
12.5
12.4
12.2
10.3
10.1
10.1
9.7
9.2
8.3
8.1
7
North Carolina
Minnesota
Kansas
Michigan
Idaho
Nebraska
6.9
6.6
6.3
5.9
5.6
5.6
New Hampshire
Pennsylvania
Oklahoma
Wisconsin
Indiana
5.4
5.1
4.9
4.4
4.2
South Carolina
Tennessee
Vermont
Arkansas
Iowa
Ohio
Missouri
Maine
Louisiana
Alabama
Kentucky
Wyoming
South Dakota
North Dakota
Montana
Mississippi
West Virginia
Puerto Rico
4.1
3.9
3.9
3.8
3.8
3.6
3.3
3.2
2.9
2.8
2.7
2.7
2.2
2.1
1.9
1.8
1.2
2.9
New Growth Centers
In addition, major urban cities are no longer the main
destination for immigrants
Public libraries need to
respond to the needs of
their communities
“Excellence must be
defined locally--it results
when library services
match community
needs, interests, and
priorities.”
--Kathleen de la
Peña McCook
Library Bill of Rights
V. A person’s right to use a
library should not be
denied or abridged
because of origin, age,
background, or views.
ALA’s Resolution in Support of
Immigrant Rights
Adopted at the ALA 2007 Midwinter Meeting in
Seattle, Washington
States:
therefore, be it
RESOLVED, That ALA strongly supports the protection of each person’s civil
liberties, regardless of that individual’s nationality, residency, or
status; and, be it further
RESOLVED, That ALA opposes any legislation that infringes on the rights of
anyone in the USA or its territories, citizens or otherwise, to use
library resources, programs, and services on national, state, and
local levels.”
PLA’s New Planning for Results’ 13
“Library Responses”:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
Basic Literacy
Business and Career Information
Commons
Community Referral
Consumer Information
Cultural Awareness
Current Topics and Titles
Formal Learning Support
General Information
Government Information
Information Literacy
Lifelong Learning
Local History and Genealogy
PLA’s New Planning for Results’ 13
“Library Responses”:
3. Commons
Urban Libraries Council
survey found that “86%
of survey libraries…say
cultural, immigrant, and
refugee agencies and
associations use the
library as a community
meeting space.”
PLA’s New Planning for Results’ 13
“Library Responses”:
8. Formal Learning
Support
– ESL Classes
– Literacy Classes
PLA’s New Planning for Results’ 13
“Library Responses”:
10. Government
Information
– Citizenship
Information
– Tax Information
– Government
Processes
Information
PLA’s New Planning for Results’ 13
“Library Responses”:
11. Information
Literacy
– Computer Classes
– Internet Access
Other considerations:
• History of immigration to U.S.
Other considerations:
• Immigrant support of public libraries in
the future
Other considerations:
• Immigrants are taxpayers through their
homes and jobs
Other considerations:
• Increase native born cultural and social
awareness
It’s our future:
• “Children of
immigrants are the
fastest-growing
segment of the U.S.
population under
18.”
• Immigrant children
account for 20% of
K-12 U.S. school
enrollment
“The disenfranchisement of a significant portion
of the population will not further the goals of a
democracy that depends on an informed citizenry
to examine issues of public concern, to vote, to
exercise good judgment as a consumer, to value
and promote education, to become the next
generation of technicians, teachers, health and
medical personnel, researchers, academicians,
and artists.”
--Sonia Ramirez Wohlmuth and
Kathleen de la Peña McCook
Overview of Material
Available on Topic
Orquidia Contreras
Historical Background
• Library Literature from 19th
century is rare
– Few writings to be found
– Start in the early 1900’s
• Printed speeches, articles, personal
journals and writings from library
professionals
To Provide Foreign Language
Books or Not? That is the
question.
• Initial issue was “Should the public
library provide books in foreign
languages?”
– “Library Services to Immigrants: The
Debate in the Library Literature,
1900-1920 by Eric Novotny
• Novotny examines rare library literature
on the topic of services geared toward
immigrant communities.
Early Library Literature
• “Why Public Libraries Should Supply
Books in Foreign Languages” by Edwin
White Gaillard (1903)
– New York Public Librarian from 1897 to
1928
– At the forefront of the issue Gaillard argued
that the public library was obligated to meet
the needs of the community as a whole!
– Edwin White Gaillard Papers are archived at
NYPL Humanities Manuscript and Archives
• “Library Work Among Foreigners” by
Josepha Kudlicka (1910)
– Strong supporter of the immigrant Polish
population as well as a library professional
Kudlicka emphasizes the importance of the
library as a source of social support “where
help and information of all kinds is asked
and received.”
Plummer Alston Jones
Libraries, Immigrants
and the American
Experience (1999)
• Breaks down the history
of immigrant library
services into two
sections
– Period of “free
immigration” 1876 to 1912
– Period of “restricted
immigration” 1924 to 1924
Plummer Alston Jones
• Still Struggling for
Equality: American Public
Library Services with
Minorities (2004)
– Jones continues to examine
the continuing
Americanization of the
immigrant and his patronage
of the public library
– Additional topics: Federal
funding, Civil Rights
Movement, Cultural
Movements of the 1960’s and
multiculturalism and
globalization
1990’s
• Immigrant Politics
and the Public
Library (2001) by
Susan LuevanoMolian
– The impact of antiimmigrant
legislation on
immigrant library
users
It’s happening right now!
• “Libraries Examine Policies As
Counties Target Illegals” by G.M.
Eberhart
– In the wake of this year’s failed
Comprehensive Immigration Reform
Act two counties in Virginia are facing
possible changes to standard
circulation and library card policy
Library Pioneers
• American Public Library Service to the
Immigrant Community, 1876 – 1984: A
Biographical History of the Movement and
it’s Leaders by Plummer Alston Jones
(1991)
– Library heroes:
• Jane Maud Campbell
• John Foster Carr
• Eleanor Edwards Ledbetter
• Edna Phillips
Jane Maud Campbell
• English immigrant who
became a dedicated librarian
serving immigrant groups
with education and library
services and Head of Public
Libraries for Passaic, New
Jersey
Eleanor Edwards Ledbetter
• Public librarian
and servant to
the immigrant
community of
Cleveland
Queens Borough Public
Library
• Queens Public
Library New
Americans and
Adult Learner
Programs Case
Study Report by
Joan Durrance
(Univ. of Mich.
& Univ. of WA)
Cultural Negotiations
• Librarian’s Toolkit for Responding to AntiImmigrant Sentiment by REFORMA
• Diversity Articles & Publications by ALA
• Libraries, the Universe, and Everything:
Serving Immigrant Populations: A Library
Prototype for Diversity by Multimedia
Services and College of Dupage (VHS)
• Library Services for Immigrants: A Report
on Current Practices by USCIS and IMLS
Libraries, the Universe, and
Everything: Serving Immigrant
Populations
• Library Learning Network
• An informative heaping helping
of information!
• Teleconferences for workshops
for library staff and professionals
• Panel discussions of library
workers direct from the trenches
– librarians talking to librarians
and library administrators
• 90mins VHS, UT call # 11,177
Audio Visual Library (FAC 341) 3
day loan
How to Assess Your
Communities Needs?
• Statistics, yah I know 
• U.S. Census www.census.gov
– Decennial Census (long form, every 10
years)
– American Comm. Survey (annual info.)
– Annual Population Estimates International
Migration as a Component of Population
Change (find out what immigrant
communities are migrating where)
Other countries…
• Canada
– “Family Story
Times for New
Immigrant
Combine
Learning and
Fun.” by Evette
Berry (2007)
Denmark
• “Danish
Strategies in
Public Library
Services to
Ethnic
Minorities” by
Jens
Thorhague
(2007)
WebJuntion
Indigenous and New Immigrant
Communities
• www.webjunction.com
• Tons of information just a click a away
– “Defining Images: Rethinking Outreach to New
Americans” by Ann Friedman (2006)
– “InfoBUS: Serving Immigrant and Refugee
Populations” by Damone Virgilio (2004)
– “Chinatown Zine Lures Teens to Library” by
D.L.W. (2002)
Austin Public Library
• New Immigrant Centers
–“New Immigrants
Center at Austin Public
Library” by Diana
Miranda-Murillo (2006)
The Immigrant
Autobiography
The Promised Land by Mary Antin
(1912)
“…Public Library – Built by the People –
Free to All…That I who was brought
up to my teens almost without a
book…should be set down in the
midst of all the books that ever were
written was a miracle as great as
any on record. That an outcast
should become a privileged citizen,
that a beggar should dwell in a
palace – this was a romance more
thrilling than poet ever sung.”
Melting Pot: American Fiction of
Immigration: The American Novel
Amerian Masters (PBS)
www.pbs.org.wnet/americannovel
• What is the “American Novel?”
– Immigration as fiction
• Literature that explore characters, plots, and themes
that deal with immigration, wealth, poverty and the
nature of “success and failure in America”
• Call it Sleep by Henry Roth (1934)
• House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros (1984)
• My Antonia by Willa Cather (1918)
• The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan (1989)
Who is that kid?
It doesn’t matter if you’re blue and furry
and the librarian doesn’t understand
what you’re saying there is still
something for you at the library.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZJlkpl
vYdgA