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Next Gen Literacies

Multiculturalism alive and well in Austria

By November 24, 2010May 24th, 201978 Comments5 min read17,860 views

Persian LibraryI love public libraries. Here in Sydney, our family regularly spends time in our local public library and in the Persian library in Parramatta. We treat public libraries a bit like an indoors park: a public space where we can enjoy books, events and “hanging out” without having to buy something as you have to in most other public spaces, such as malls or cafes. In that we are very similar to the visitors of the central library in Vienna, as a new fascinating ethnography demonstrates (Busch, 2009).

The researcher, Brigitta Busch explores the Viennese central library as a space where bottom-up language policy is made. With most language policy studies focusing on the national level, her paper is a brilliant reminder that language policy is not only the result of some grand plan hatched by a central bureaucracy but the result of civic engagement.

The Viennese central library holds an amazingly multilingual collection: in addition to German, full collections are also available in Bosnian/Croatian/Serbian, English and Turkish. Additionally, there are collections of at least 500 items in Albanian, Czech, French, Hungarian, Italian, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Russian, Slovak, Slovene and Spanish. Smaller collections are held in Arabic, Catalan, Chinese, Classical Greek, Dutch, Esperanto, Finnish, Ladino, Latin, Norwegian, Romany, Swedish and Yiddish. Furthermore, language learning materials are available for all these and some other languages.

In interviews it emerged that the establishment of collections in languages other than German was generally guided by two principles: one was to build collections in important foreign languages (English, French etc.) and the other was to build collections in Vienna’s migrant languages (Bosnian/Croatian/Serbian, Turkish etc.). These broad considerations, were followed by personnel considerations (a least one person needs to be able to curate a language collection) and by availability considerations (only a sufficient number of items and a regular flow of new items make a language collection viable and keep it interesting). Some of this can be quite accidental. For example, when a retired professor of sinology became a volunteer, the Chinese section could be established. Conversely, the library recognizes a need to establish a Chechen collection but hasn’t been able to act on that need because there are no established trade connections with war-torn Chechnya.

The librarians in charge of a specific language section, too, make language policy with reference to their own beliefs. The librarian in charge of the Russian section, for instance, closely listens to the needs and wishes of the users of Russian language materials and thus the collection caters for “Russian ladies” and their love of crime fiction on the one hand and asylum seekers from various parts of the former Soviet Union, on the other, who prefer non-fiction and German language learning materials with Russian as the source language.

In contrast to the pragmatic approach of the Russian librarian, the Turkish librarian sees it as her mission to focus on the “quality” of the collection. For her, quality means only stocking materials sourced from Turkey and not from Germany, where a flourishing Turkish-language publishing industry has developed around the newspaper Hürriyet. She explains her reasoning as follows:

This (i.e. Turkish-language publishing in Germany) is a guest worker culture that has emerged there, they write about the factory, about poverty, about the difficulties they have experienced. This is not Turkish, not Turkish culture like the one I grew up in, that happens in Turkey. (…) They have a culture in between. (Busch 2009, p. 139)

This purist attitude and conservative acquisition policy notwithstanding, youths of Turkish backgrounds love the library. Many go there to do their homework, and while doing their maths, they also chat with each other in German and Turkish and they access internet sites with their favorite music in English, German and Turkish (the latter both diasporic and Turkey-based).

Migrants account for 25% of the population of Vienna and possibly a larger portion of the users of the central library. For asylum seekers it is a space where they can access the internet and German language learning materials for free, for youths of migrant backgrounds it is a space to hang out with friends, and tourists go there because of the architectural interest of the building and to gain free internet access. The public library has thus become a truly democratic multicultural space.

The central library in Vienna is a space where a language policy that fosters social cohesion is negotiated: there are no barriers to access, linguistic diversity is valued, and language policy is ultimately seen as a negotiation process between the users of the library and the staff. I recognized the public libraries I frequent in that account.

If we only listen to the media (and even academic accounts of national language policies), it is easy to feel pessimistic about the future, or even the possibility, of democratic, fair and diverse societies. Busch’s research shows that this is only one way of looking at multiculturalism. I hope many more researchers will follow her lead and produce accounts of successful inclusive bottom-up language policies:

The example of the Vienna library shows that initiatives which provide open access to spaces in which communication between linguistically and culturally diverse groups can take place publicly can contribute substantially towards inclusive language policies. (p. 147)

Reference

Busch, B. (2009). Local actors in promoting multilingualism. In G. Hogan-Brun, C. Mar-Molinero & P. Stevenson (Eds.), Discourses on Language and Integration (pp. 129-151). Amsterdam: John Benjamin Publishing.

활기차고 훌륭한 오스트리아의 다문화주의
Translated by Sun-Young Chung

난 공공도서관을 사랑한다. 이곳 시드니에서, 우리 가족은 정기적으로 지역 내에 있는 공공 도서관 및 파라마타에 소재한 페르시아 도서관에서 시간을 보낸다. 우리 가족에게 있어 공공 도서관은 실내 공원과도 같은 공간이다. 무엇인가를 꼭 사야만 할 것 같은 상점이나 카페와 같은 다른 공공 장소와는 달리 책과 행사를 즐기고 그저 “소일”하는 그런 공간 말이다. 흥미롭고 새로운 민족학 연구가 증명해 보여주듯이 (Busch, 2009), 그런 면에서 우리는 비엔나에 있는 중앙도서관을 찾는 방문객과 매우 흡사하다.

연구원 Brigitta Busch는 기초적이고 세부적인 언어 정책이 세워지는 공간으로서의 비엔나 중앙도서관에 대해 탐구한다. 대부분의 언어 정책이 국가적 차원에 초점을 맞추는 가운데, 그녀의 연구논문은 언어 정책이 중앙 관료에 의해 생성된 몇몇 웅장한 계획의 결과물이 아니라 시민의 참여에 의한 결과물이라고 하여 멋진 발상의 전환을 불러일으킨다.

비엔나 중앙도서관은 놀라울 만큼 많은 양의 다국어 모음집을 보유하고 있다. 독일어뿐만 아니라 보스니아어, 크로아티아어, 세르비아어, 영어, 및 터키어로 된 전집 또한 찾아볼 수 있다. 게다가, 최소한 500편이 넘는 모음집을 알바니아어, 체코어, 프랑스어, 헝가리어, 이탈리아어, 폴란드어, 포르투갈어, 루마니아어, 러시아어, 슬로바키아어, 슬로베니아어, 및 스페인어로 이용할 수 있다. 그보다 규모가 작은 모음집으로는 아라비아어, 카탈로니아어, 중국어, 고대 그리스어, 네덜란드어, 에스페란토어, 핀란드어, 라디노어, 라틴어, 노르웨이어, 로마니어, 스웨덴어, 및 이디시어가 있다. 덧붙여, 언어 학습 자료는 이 모든 언어들뿐만 아니라 몇몇 다른 언어로 된 것도 찾아볼 수 있다.

인터뷰에서 독일어 외의 언어로 된 모음집 확립은 일반적으로 두 가지의 원칙에 따라 이루어졌다고 알려졌다. 하나는 중요한 외국어 (영어, 프랑스어, 등) 모음집을 만드는 것이고, 다른 하나는 비엔나의 이민자 언어 (보스니아어/크로아티아어/세르비아어, 터키어, 등)로 된 모음집을 만드는 것이었다. 이러한 폭넓은 고려에는 인사적인 고려 (적어도 한 사람이 언어 모음집에 대해 큐레이터 역할을 수행할 수 있어야 함)과 유용성 면의 고려 (단지 충분한 수량의 도서와 새로운 도서의 정기적인 흐름만이 언어 모음집을 실용적이고 흥미롭게 함)도 뒤따랐다. 이들 중 몇몇은 꽤 우연한 것일 수도 있다. 예를 들어, 퇴직한 중국학 교수가 자원봉사자가 되면 중국어 분야가 만들어질 수 있는 것이다. 반대로, 도서관이 체첸어 모음집을 만들어야 할 필요는 인식했지만 전쟁으로 파괴된 체첸 공화국과 무역관계가 성립되어 있지 않아서 그 수요에 응할 수 없었을 수도 있을 것이다.

특정 언어 분야를 책임지고 있는 사서들 역시 그들 자신의 신념에 따라 언어 정책을 만들 수 있다. 예를 들어, 러시아어 분야를 책임지고 있는 사서는 러시아어 학습 교재 사용자들로부터 그들의 요구와 소원하는 바에 대해 면밀히 들을 수 있고, 따라서 모음집은 한편으로는 “러시아 숙녀들”과 그들의 범죄소설에 대한 애정에 부응하고, 또 다른 한편으로는

논픽션과 러시아로 쓰여진 독일어 학습 교재를 더 선호하는 구소련의 다양한 지역으로부터 온 망명신청자들의 요구에 부응하는 것이다.

러시아어 사서의 실용적인 접근과는 달리, 터키어 사서는 모음집의 “품질”에 초점을 맞추는 것이 그녀의 임무라고 생각한다. 그녀에게 있어 품질이란 무성한 터키어 출판 산업이 Hürriyet이라는 신문을 중심으로 발전한 독일이 아닌 터키에서 건너온 자료만 갖추는 것을 의미한다. 그녀는 다음과 같이 그녀의 신념 근거를 설명한다:

이것은 (독일의 터키어 출판사그곳에서 알려진 게스트 노동자 문화입니다그들은 공장에 대해가난에 대해그들이 경험한 어려움에 대해 씁니다이건 터키어가 아니고제가 자라면서 겪었던 터키 문화도 아니며터키에서 일어나는 일도 아닙니다. (…) 그들은  개의 문화 사이에 끼여 있습니다. (Busch 2009, p. 139)

이러한 순수주의자적 태도와 보수적인 수집 정책에도 불구하고, 터키 배경의 청년들은 도서관을 좋아한다. 많은 이들은 그곳에 과제를 하러 가는데, 그들은 수학 숙제를 하는 도중 독일어와 터키어로 서로 잡담을 하기도 하고, 영어, 독일어, 및 터키어 (독일로 이동한 터키 및 원래 터키 기반 모두)로 된 그들이 좋아하는 음악과 함께 인터넷사이트에 접속하기도 한다.

이민자가 비엔나 인구의 25%를 차지하고 있으며, 아마도 그들 중 상당 수는 중앙도서관 이용자일 수도 있다. 망명 신청자들에게 이 공간은 무료로 인터넷과 독일어 학습 교재를 사용할 수 있는 곳이기도 하다. 이민 배경을 가진 아동들 및 청년들에게 이 공간은 친구들과 어울리는 장소이며, 여행객들은 건물이 주는 건축적 흥미와 더불어 무료로 제공되는 인터넷 사용 때문에 이곳을 방문할 것이다. 그리하여 공공 도서관은 진정한 의미의 민주적 다문화 공간이 되는 것이다.

비엔나에 소재한 중앙도서관은 사회적 결속력을 조성하는 언어 정책의 협상이 이루어지는 공간이다: 이용에 어떠한 제약도 따르지 않고, 언어적 다양성도 존중되며, 언어 정책은 궁극적으로 도서관 이용자와 직원간의 협상 과정으로 여겨진다. 나는 공공 도서관을 그러한 면에서 인식하고 자주 방문해왔다.

우리가 만약 미디어에만 귀를 기울인다면 (그리고 국가적 언어 정책에 대한 학계의 해석만 고려한다면), 미래에 대해, 또는 민주적이고 공정한, 그리고 다양한 사회구현을 위한 가능성에 대해 부정적인 인상을 갖기 쉽다. Busch의 연구는 이것이 다문화주의를 바라보는 방법 중 한가지임을 설명한다. 더 많은 연구자들이 그녀의 주도를 따라 기초적이고 세부적인 언어 포괄정책에 대한 성공적인 사례를 배출해 낼 수 있기를 바란다:

비엔나 도서관의 예는 언어적으로  문화적으로 다양한 그룹들 간에 의사소통이 공공적으로 이루어질  있는 공간에 대해 자유롭게 접근 가능케  여러 발의들이 포괄적이고 통합적인 언어 정책을 위해 상당한 공헌을   있다는 것을 증명해 보여준다 (p. 147).

Ingrid Piller

Author Ingrid Piller

Dr Ingrid Piller, FAHA, is Distinguished Professor of Applied Linguistics at Macquarie University, Sydney, Australia. Her research expertise is in bilingual education, intercultural communication, language learning, and multilingualism in the context of migration and globalization.

More posts by Ingrid Piller

Join the discussion 78 Comments

  • KyKy says:

    Thanks for this post. I really enjoy your point of view on libraries. Since I came to Sydney, I haven’t had any chance to visit any low-tech libraries that is filled with artifacts found in local attics. On my part, I am fascinated with Sydney’s museums because they are full of wonderful objects from across the globe. They are all bearers of meaning in the culture. Who could not fail to be inspired by such a treasure trove?

  • Nguyen Thien Duyen Ngo says:

    With me, a library is a special place. I love to enjoy the book and the atmosphere there. I also prefer the paper book rather than the technology. It is interesting to know about the Viennese library, which is very impressive and inspiring about how it promotes the multi-cultural world to the community. Moreover, the library like this can play an important role in supporting people from linguistically diverse society to learn and maintain their own cultures.

  • Rochelle says:

    This is an interesting article for me to rethink about the use of the library once again. They say, library is where the sea of knowledge lies, you are able to search for ‘anything’. Other than finding resources with a ‘click’ via the internet, library would be the next best alternative for one to search the article physically. I used to be a librarian in high school in Singapore, and we would have to categorize the books according to the genre respectively. Through this experience, I have realised that the best way to learn about the culture or even to learn a new skill is to experience it yourself physically. The national library is the gateway to multiculturalism, especially for Singapore for books which displays Mandarin (simplified and traditional), Bahasa Malay, Tamil, along with other languages like Japanese, French and etc. The National Library in Singapore consist of two 16-storey blocks with three basements; it is not only used for classes, seminars, conferences but also a place for the learners to do their research. The sections are categorized as such: public library; reference library; drama centres; business science and technology collections; the arts and social sciences collections; Chinese, Malay and Tamil collection; donors’ collections, Asian children’s collection; Singapore and Southeast Asian collection; rare materials collection.

  • tting says:

    Cultural and linguistic diversity is the common heritage of mankind and should be cherished and preserved for the benefit of all mankind. They are a source of communication, innovation, creativity and peaceful coexistence between peoples. Various types of libraries should reflect, support and promote cultural and linguistic diversity and serve to promote intercultural dialogue and positive citizenship. For example, Australia is a country with a combination of different cultures. The library needs to pay special attention to the multicultural groups in the region, including indigenous people, immigrant groups, people with mixed cultural backgrounds, transnational and diaspora individuals, asylum seekers, refugees, temporary residents, migrant workers, and minorities.

  • Xinyue Ji says:

    This essay provides the significant part of the languages’ diversity in an official library. Various materials of different languages exists in the public library, as a result, it becomes democratic and diversified. Moreover, because of the materials containing various languages’ materials, the judgement of media is not the only way of spreading. So we can conclude that providing a public area for language and cultural diversity is important.

  • Anas says:

    The Department of the National Library in Amman, Jordan, is Amman’s main public library and the government’s center for processing its documents for archival purposes (Hazine, 2017). Preserving, protecting collections and sharing of information by allowing public access allow not only the current population to access but also for the future generation to appreciate the importance of the library and the materials available. It is only in 1994 that the Jordanian government realise the significance of such an institution and established the Department of the National Library. All these sound good in the media but when I googled ‘public libraries in Jordan’ just to see what’s available, I came across an expat forum – http://www.expat.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=54638. I found it interesting that a few people in the expat community, living and working in Jordan, have not seen a public library. I then, start to question how accessible is the library to the public? I must confess, I, myself have not been to any public libraries in Amman. The fact that the sign on the National Library in Amman is in Arabic, does not seem to be multicultural friendly. Having read this article, I have made a mental note to visit the National Library in Amman. From my own observation, visiting public libraries is not part of our culture especially growing up. Libraries are usually reserved as part of a school activity or of a university student’s lives. Living in Australia made me realise how the culture here is so different and I admit, I hope the future generation in Jordan will utilise the library as part of their family’s activities. This type of grassroots approach, I am sure will change the mindset of how important a library is.

  • Qianxin says:

    Libraries can be the iconic buildings that represent one place’s culture. And the public library is a place which is convenient for citizens to gain knowledge. In Sydney, there are lots of public libraries that located in each district. Thus, people from different areas of Sydney can easily access this service. Also, as for me, the library plays an important role in my daily life especially in the library of Macquarie university because it provides plenty of academic articles and books that can benefit my study.

  • Cami says:

    The Viennese Central Library sounds like a great library. As I was reading this article and particularly Thet’s blog, I started to think about the political policy and national feeling that allows for the creation of libraries that encourage multiculturalism and access to different cultures through literature. I grew up in an Australia where many libraries stock books from around the world, in other languages, validating non-mainstream cultures and languages and allowing people to engage with different cultures and ideologies.

    However, the Australia that my dad migrated to many decades ago that frowned on the speaking of anything but English on the streets probably would have had a breakdown at the introduction of shelves, even whole sections of the library, brimming with non-English languages. It is great to see the acceptance and even welcoming of people from other lands and see that provisions are made for them to access literacy resources by the mainstream culture, especially since the cost of foreign language books can be quite prohibitive. I remember the first time that I found Dutch books in a library, I was so excited and felt like it opened up a new world and a new link between me and my father’s homeland.

    On another note, I feel like the internet also is a wonderful tool of literacy for those who have access to it, because so many books in different languages can be accessed free of charge, so even where access to books in one’s native language is difficult in the country that one is living in, they can be supplemented by the world wide web library.

  • yym says:

    It is convinced that the domestic library is a nice place to assist people to adapt to a new environment, especially for migrants. I do think the library should not be replaced by e-books. At present time, people prefer to use the online resources instead of relying on the real books. However, the process of obtaining books is interesting sometimes. I have been to Epping library and the library will organize several activities to engaged people get involved into reading books. It is also a beneficial platform to make friends. Multilingual resources in public library may motivate local residents to use multiple languages for self-cultivation, which can be seen as a way to attract vivid multiculturalism in some countries where a single language dominates.

  • Tamanna says:

    I think library is the most useful to learn and gather knowledge. During my bachelor degree, I could not get enough help from library. Because, my university library was small with only some limited books. There was public library in the city but that was far away from my place. And there was some restriction as well for non members. But when I came to Macquarie library I just became speechless. Here not only the text books from different disciplines are stored, but also books of different languages are kept which is motivating to learn another culture. And there is huge amount of collection of books which can help to know about other culture. For example, there are some books which language is English but the content is about Chinese.

  • Siyi Wu says:

    Libraries can stand for a multi-culture of one country. In China, we do not have much migrants so that normal libraries rarely see the books with different languages. (Only English and Chinese). But state libraries can find some books with different languages because it is authoritative and national. When I came to Australia, I found that Individuals can find books with different language such as Chinese, Germany and so on in every library. It depends on the immigrant culture of Australia. Every library should have books for different language speakers.

  • Nana says:

    Having books in different languages in public libraries is great for many reasons, if you are learning a language you may wish to find books in that language; In my case, that I want to practice English is quite easy to find books in English in Sydney, but sometimes I feel more comfortable reading in my mother language (Spanish). Also, occasionally I am interested on books in Portuguese and Italian because I like those two languages and I enjoy learning a bit of each from time to time. in terms of academic writing, multilingualism is really helpful, sometimes you find relevant information for your assignment in another language, so you read it and get the key points to support your work.

  • Nidhi Dhir says:

    Since the dawn of civilisation libraries are integral part of preserving, transmitting and spreading culture. In multicultural countries. Libraries play vital role in bridging gap between emigrant’s culture and bringing scope to explore distinct culture. Unfortunately, in my country’s (India) education system provides less room to go beyond designed curriculum and to utilise library, but there are public libraries available which are useful to explore multiculturalism. I have visited one of the biggest libraries of Punjab state and I must say that visiting and finding books of different genre at that place increased my curiosity for reading and exploring different cultural literature.

  • AN says:

    Although reading has always been my constant solace as I was growing up, I often resorted to reading/ purchasing storybooks or novels from bookstores nearby, or visiting the school/ university library. Although we do have a National Library back in my country (not too far from where I live) – ‘Perpustakaan Negara Malaysia’- , it is only after I read this article have I realized that I have drove past that library hundreds of times, but not once decided to stop and enter it (not too proud of that). I found that the library holds close to five million items (books, publications, magazines, newspapers, online materials, etc.) in many languages such as English (>50%), Malay, Tamil, Chinese, Indonesian, Arabic, Japanese, Korean, Hindi, French, Dutch, Italian, German, Spanish,…,the list goes on! (a glimpse of the diversity in Malaysia’s population).
    PS: I will definitely visit the national library when I return home this time 🙂

  • Adia says:

    It’s very amazing and advantageous when a public library can facilitate the cultural diversity and as a place where people can see multiculturalism lives in harmony. As we can read from “In search of myself”, this kind of library allows immigrants or refugees to get the exposure of their cultural resources that available for them and it can help them to find themselves with a clear sense of identity. It’s such a great place to find solace and knowledge.

  • AzPc says:

    In the library of Macau, there are also mainly two sessions of the collection type. There are Portuguese, English, French books for the political and academic reasons. In terms of Portuguese, this was one of the official languages in Macau, although there are less Portuguese speakers in Macau now. In terms of English and French, these two are more used for academic purposes. Another type of collection is the Chinese, including Mandarin and Cantonese books, these two types of languages were mainly used by the citizens of Macau, people who come to the library to read different types of Chinese books such as novels and magazines.

  • Hasnahana says:

    It is so disappointing that in my life I have not spent enough time in the public library to read. By reading the article I have inspired to visit the public library of Sydney. The public library has plenty of books and multicultural environment which will give a feeling of world communism and unity.
    I love reading different kinds of books. In Bangladesh, though I did not visit the library frequently, I was a member of ‘Bishwo Shahitto Kendro’ meaning ‘ World Literature Centre’ which promotes reading habits among the students and the general public. This is a mobile library in Bangladesh which provides books all over the country. As the books are expensive and the libraries are not that available, this provides books to people with a less amount of monthly fee. In every week, I collected the books and kept that for one week which was really great and exciting.

  • Au says:

    I totally agree that library is not only a place for us to find books; it is somehow a destination to study, to hangout etc. For me, when I was in my undergraduate level, my university has a modern library in top five big library in my country; unfortunately, I did not go there usually for reading. It is because neither there is any connection between the course I took with the date base of the library nor do the lectures recommend us to go to the library. However, at Macquarie University I really enjoy the way how each unit links to the data base of the library. It gives me a chance to be involved myself in the library for hours to search and read books or materials supporting for my study. I like the positive feelings whenever I get out of the library after reading hours.

  • Naive* says:

    6. It’s great to know that there is an interesting way to preserve multicultural and multilingual factors like libraries. However, there are not as many migrants in my country as there are in Australia. There are not many languages widely spoken, either. The most popular ones are Vietnamese, English, Chinese and Khmer only. Therefore, I could guess that there are no such libraries like Viennese central library in my country yet even though it is a very good suggestion for libraries to follow.

  • zhongliang lin says:

    I was very surprised when I first visited the library at Macquarie University, I had found a lot of Chinese books, including novels and academic books. In fact, the library is a place to show multiculturalism; books in different languages are placed in the same library. For example, Eastwood is a Chinese community in Sydney. At the Eastwood Public Library, many Chinese immigrants like reading and studying there. I have to say that Sydney’s library is a truly multicultural space for everyone from different cultures.

  • Ary says:

    This post has given me such strong sense of nostalgia. Having been brought up in a multicultural and multilingual community (Khmer, certain number of Chinese dialects, and Vietnamese), I’ve been granted such a great opportunity to be in between so many different languages. Although there was not any library that closely resembles the one mentioned in the post, the local authorities had, indeed, acknowledge such diversity and built separate school(s), some exclusively teach language, some include more optional subjects of languages, to foster the local pupils’ need of preserving and rooting for their mother tongue(s). However, it would make much more massive impact to the community if the committees agree to invest and create such form of a library that takes people’s culture, hence their language, into consideration.

  • Sirin says:

    Books, for me, have always been a gateway to different cultures and languages, hence I love the idea of establishing multicultural collections within local libraries. The Central Library of Vienna works as a great example, as it displays a variety of foreign books, especially from migrant communities living in Austria. This act also seems to have a representative function, as the associated migrant communities might feel more related to the local culture.

  • Ngoc Hiep says:

    This blog’s post helps me more simply understand this multiculturalism discourse that is inherently complicated to some extent! It seems to me that the Australia’s context is quite the same as the case of Viene’s public libraries mentioned by the author: immigrants contribute to fostering multiculturalism, noticeably through a variety of languages which are stored in public libraries!
    Almost every council in Australia has at leat one public liberary where people from various cultures can easily find resources written in their own language. They can maintain their original cultures and exchange them with residents in Australia from all over the wall. This results in diversity in cultures which are clearly seen sustainable and prosperous from the author’s argument!

  • Piiigah (kamali) says:

    The article was interesting and sad at the same time.
    For my bachelor’s degree, I didn’t spend much time reading at the library, and there weren’t public libraries around in Tehran to attend. I should have gone to my university library.
    There is a big national library in Tehran which has restrictions for being a member. You have to be a student in masters or above otherwise you cannot attend and use the library, which is sad and demotivating.

    The library is the best place to learn about different cultures through words and writer’s thoughts. Thinking about libraries in this way makes me become more enthusiastic about them and their importance to society, and to use them to learn more about other cultures as I am learning right now.

  • student says:

    The linguistic diversity of the Viennese library intrigues me. I decided to investigate Macquarie Uni Library’s foreign language collections.

    A quick search for “language teaching” on MultiSearch uncovers resources (books, articles, ebooks etc) in 76 languages. I was shocked to discover texts in languages from all corners of the world, such as Hmong, Malayalam, Swedish, and Zulu. Macquarie doesn’t appear to offer a wide selection of texts in several of these languages. However, sizeable collections of resources are available in many languages.

    I’m thrilled to discover this, and will be making use of this feature of our library in future!

  • Marie says:

    This article sheds light on various issues surrounding multiculturalism and how to go about them. As Dr Piller demonstrates, public libraries in many European countries including Germany and Austria embrace their migrants from within by adopting a bottom-up approach to language policies. This may be enabled as the migrant population, particularly in Vienna, account for one-fourth of the citizens, whereas in South Korea, the rate only takes up 3.4% of the total residents. In the long rungs, diversifying and utilising public libraries to migrants’ benefits may be a cost-effective as well as a brilliant alternative/substitution to the current monetary funding for the less benefitted migrants in South Korea.

  • Yang says:

    It is quite ashamed that I may only have few times to access into library in my previous student life. Now the situation has been changed that I usually go into university library to look for the information/books I need. I do agree with that every library is not only a place for people to learn in quiet and to provide the paper works but also a place which includes the multi-languages from different categories. I went to Burwood Public Library last weekend. At first, I really surprised that I can find many Chinese Kung-Fu novels, Chinese photographers’ collections and the four greatest novels etc. with the version in Chinese. Of course there are English transcripts as well. I thought it may just provide convenient for people, but at the same time, I also found that there is books for language learning such as Spanish, French, Chinese, Korean, Japanese. The library provides the resources for someone who wants to learn other languages. In this case, library is playing an important role of language diversity protection and transmission.

  • Gab says:

    Besides sitting on the library chairs and reading books, the library is also a good avenue for diversity. This article reminds me of how various libraries in my country have started to flourish over the past couple of years. Libraries in my country used to be associated only to bookworms and the likes. This association however started to change because of the emergence of various books and reference materials, mostly literary and historical manuscripts, written in their respective local languages. With more than 180 languages in the country, some local government units have started to make some ways to preserve their culture and heritage. By making collections of these materials available in the local libraries, citizens have become interested to read books related to where they came from as well to the culture present to others. I personally visited one local library and it was quite fascinating to see books written in other local languages. This is really a good way to see how we could celebrate diversity and multiculturalism.

  • N_W says:

    Thank you for sharing the interesting story, as i am not a big fan of library. The point is there are many migrants from many countries emigrated to both Australia and Austria which made them became multicultural countries. Libraries are become the place for all because it has many free facilities available for all visitors and also the best place to study and explore of many kind of books and languages. Moreover, it is the place to learn from native and people from other countries and make friends. According to the article, I love that there are many books in many languages available for all people because it means that this places is available for everyone not only the native. Since there are many libraries in Sydney, I may have to visit there to explore the world though the books as the writer too. 🙂

  • Luv says:

    Libraries could be seen as spaces where people can interact not only with the books of interest but with the people inside. This can help them learn from the area in which they are located as well. When I travel to a new city or town, one of the spaces I look for is the public o local library, since I can find information on the events or activities happening, and classes or workshops that are held in the library. There are always people who can help and guide visitors to get used to the new city or town. Apart from the books and the staff, it is possible to know the community that visits the library and share experiences, tastes and solutions for any similar concerns. School and university libraries are also spaces where different communities might feel included and find diverse materials. In a way, the purpose of these spaces is to make new communities feel integrated, interact and learn from one another. I do not really know to what extent this happens, and if all them follow the language policies or it is just the decision of the people managing the spaces about what to include or not, but the goal at least is ideally inclusive.

  • Kim says:

    This is not only an inspiring experience about how people could benefit from the space and the content of library but also a reminder to us of how valuable a library is for the community. As one of many public places and sources of information, it also provides an opportunity for the people to get exposed with other language and culture that would, to some extent, relieve some stress, expand the network, broaden the knowledge about the world and let the people get to know each other. This should have been supported by the sources of people in the library, the community and the government that have worked together to encourage people to come and spend more time in the library.
    I have been so lucky to witness how libraries, especially in Australia, has provided many activities and events for all and functioned more than just a place to read books but far beyond that. This is what libraries in my place in Lombok and Indonesia more generally may need to do to promote reading, exchange information, language and culture.

  • Yuki says:

    It is interesting that Brigitta Busch and her family enjoy books in their local public library instead of going out for shopping like others because not many families do the same thing as her family. In fact, only by realizing the importance of literacy, can the family consider libraries as part of their daily activities in life. Hence, a wide range of books in the library helps her explore lots of thing. Different librarians are in charge of different language section to meet readers’ needs. For instance, the Turkish librarian focuses on the quality while the Russian librarian looks for crime fiction. Back to other countries like Vietnam, we are not provided with various books and references even either in public library or library at university. Then, it is hard to find those materials supplying for my academic study in terms of linguistics when I was in Vietnam. Hence, I am impressed by the number of books in our MQ library that I can find any articles via multiple search on the library website.

  • Salam Moussa Oghli says:

    I once accompanied AMEP students with a Middle Eastern background (Assyrian) to the local library when I was Bilingual Support Assistant (Arabic/English/Armenian). We came across Assyrian books that made the students happy even though most of them could not read Assyrian. They opened the books and showed me some of the letters they could recognise and some of the illustrations or pictures they knew something about and shared what they knew. The librarian offered us some adult colouring paper sheets with a lot of crayons to colour in the library and the students, the teacher and I had a very relaxing time.
    These days we can access books and information anywhere on our smart gadgets, put on our earphones and dive in our digital solitude. However, what the library offers is much more than books, reading spaces, services and activities. A good library reflects the locals’ interests, promotes awareness, advocates appreciation for diversity and encourages progress and self-growth with its official, educational and literary status.

  • Orpheus says:

    There is a significant difference between the public libraries in Austria and those in Vietnam. It is true that public libraries in Vietnam have faced many challenges over the last 10 years. These challenges are the financing constraints and poor skills related to information technology. Furthermore, the lack of books, poor infrastructures, and services are also the disadvantages of most Vietnamese library. Although librarians play an important role in the development of libraries, they are not well trained to meet the demand from the customers that they serve. However, the government is now taking action by launching many campaigns to enhance the library services and to raise the public awareness about the vital role of libraries and their potential contributions.

  • Shaher Mohammed S Asiri says:

    according to this article, I think Australia has created multicultural communities due to multinationalism that has been settled in this country. Having or building libraries are not mere to ,just, read or a space for learning, but is one of opportunities to engage and involve with various cultures and friends which allow the visitor or the frequent librarian to meet and make friends, learning different cultures and values, in additional, reading interesting books or seeing other cultural scripts or values. Libraries has become one of place that produce knowledge, increasing awareness and knowledge for individuals about other communities either in a particular country or in the worldwide.

  • Ann says:

    What a wonderful blog post about an important facility that we use but hardly appreciate. i strongly agree with the professor’s expression of “Public library has become a democratic multicultural space”. There is no age limit or cultural preference at a library. I have seen mums come to the library with their kids in prams. There are very old people visit to the library to read the news papers in their own languages. Librarians organise different programmes to cater all ages.
    I find a library as a treasure box. I borrow many work books for my high school and primary school children. They enjoy CD, DVD and story books. They have won many prices from the competitions organised by the public library. Even libraries conduct entertainment and educational programmes to celebrate some days. for an example Halloween day.
    Some people find very expensive to buy books. In that case libraries help to borrow for a reasonable period. Furthermore, many students take advantage of using the space for their studies.
    Library is actually a heaven for people in diverse community.

  • Natalie Estrella says:

    I think it is very apt that a library should take on the role of providing a multi-linguistic environment for citizens to engage in and access. As other mediums which act as sources of information such as the internet become less and less dominated by English it makes complete sense that libraries do the same, particularly in multicultural nations. This is important not only to encourage literacy practices amongst citizens and within a community and thus empower individuals of non-English speaking background in English dominated societies but also to help libraries hold onto a position of relevance in an increasingly paperless society.

  • Naoya says:

    This has made me realize an important role of public libraries not only in entertaining people with books as hobbies, but also in allowing them to get access to many language learning resources for free, including opportunities to get to know native speakers of their target languages. This is only the case where the public libraries are in countries with a number of people from multicultural backgrounds, I believe. Regarding my country, Japan, Japanese people tend to make use of the public libraries for the sake of hobbies or study, not language learning resources due to its monolingual background. However, I believe they should provide people with more access to different languages for free, like Viennese case.

  • LibroLibre says:

    When I was a teenager libraries meant more than a place with books, they meant music, art, entertainment, and more. Public libraries in my city were a meeting place with very interesting cultural events every week (e.g. talks, performances, concerts, exhibitions etc.). Besides, I have witnessed how libraries can have an important role in healing communities that have been affected by violence. This is due to the fact that they provided a neutral space in an environment that was dominated by hostility. In the following link there is some information about how libraries are helping to transform a city in my country: https://money.cnn.com/2017/11/16/news/colombia-medellin-libraries/index.html

  • Fern says:

    This is an interesting example of how bottom up practices could promote multiculturalism. In my community library there are sections of Chinese, Vietnamese, Hindi and a small collection of Sinhalese books too. This is a very pleasant encounter when you see your own language and this could definitely be improved if the libraries could be given a helping hand. I know of many personal collections in my community where readers share their books, and if there is a drive for bringing a book from home when you visit your country the collections in the libraries would increase immensely. If not for multicultural librarians for each language, at least one overlooking the needs/preferences could further enhance the management of these collections. Further, outdated newspapers from the community grocery shops could be handed in to the libraries and be used by readers.
    Rather than imposing restrictions of what should be included in the collections , all material should be welcomed as language and culture operate on multiple levels in various kinds of printed material.

  • Nasser says:

    From a pedagogical perspective, learning a language does not necessarily happen at a language school. Benson (2011) points out that ‘affordances’ available for learners out of schools should not be undermined. It can be drawn that libraries amongst other places can be used as spaces to encourage self-directed learning.
    On the other hand, libraries are not merely physical spaces designed for formal learning; instead, they are settings that promote socio-cultural engagement between the participants. They not only support and enhance learners’ community involvement but also provide an environment for literary practices.
    As the second picture depicts, libraries can be used as locations for people from different ages to access literary resources. Additionally, religious practices of minorities, as well as cultural activities, can take place in public libraries.

  • Karly says:

    The example provided is a great illustration of how communities can be established even in a small public location as a result of living in a rich multicultural environment. It also demonstrates how valuable libraries can be for a community even in an age that is dominated by technology and Internet. The ability to interact with people who share the same values, beliefs and interests in a community away from home is irreplaceable even in such a technologically advanced era.

  • Lai Ng says:

    The public libraries in Austria just illustrate how multiculturalism flourishes in a community under the input of resources and positive support from a government. It shows how well the bottom-up language policy can be. The amazing multilingual collection not even provide a suitable environment for academics but also a soothing place for migrants. The collections are not just for leisure reading but also marketing that language and the culture behind that language. The context of the collections often emphasises the ‘gap’ between the original country and Austria., which is the most important and interesting thing to the migrant readers. The example of Austria libraries illustrate government initiatives can provide an area of communication between linguistics and culture to open public to participate, contribute and emerge into the community. It sets up a good reference to our Australia in helping the migrants to accommodate their lives as early as possible with the assistance of public facilities.

  • Haley says:

    I think the Viennese public library is a wonderful example of how libraries can engage local communities and also stay relevant in the age of technology. For any type of facility like this to continue to engage people I believe local, civic engagement is important. By engaging a range of multicultural librarians the collections are much more likely to be relevant and responsive to the needs of the different communities.

    The idea of having a library serve as a meeting place and point of connection for all sorts of people will, I believe, really contribute to the library environment remaining relevant. Although many people may still say that they prefer paper books to e-ones, the reality is that so much information is available in 5 seconds at our fingertips that libraries may be in danger of becoming irrelevant. Like all institutions, they need to adapt to the changes that technology and this appears to be one way in which they are doing just that.

  • Preeya says:

    According to this article, a local institution such as the public library where the connection between linguistic practices, place, and space spread. Public library shows the types (services) of multicultural communities that being alive, as well as promote cultural and language diversity by collaborating with local people, especially multicultural citizens. Australia as a country have many public library, obviously, many more culturally-mixed backgrounds, immigrant communities, migrant workers, refugees, and indigenous citizens. It is important to understand that the differences of multicultural communities will benefit the quality of Australia’s services and learn dimensions (size) of community diversity in the country. Therefore, the public library is one of the best places to explore them.

  • J.J says:

    A public library is a place where everyone who visits the library allows to access to various books (different topics and different languages) and to learn free and equal to information and ideas without social and cultural constraints. It is true that we live in a multicultural society where people have diverse cultural and linguistic backgrounds. It is helpful for the people who are from different countries to keep their languages, cultures and histories. Moreover, it could provide opportunities for others who have a little cultural knowledge about other countries or are interested in learning languages to learn and to understand different cultures as well as histories.

  • Luis Torres Vasquez says:

    From a personal perspective, public libraries have a tremendous impact in the communities surrounding them, allowing people from various backgrounds to find a welcoming ground. I remember when I first moved to Los Angeles, I found the public library in my area and discovered my new home. Moreover, the bottom-up language policies developed in Viena’s central library are a perfect example of what Piller highlighted the “result of civil engagement”, and express that without the community, public libraries would be rather static and monochrome places. Furthermore, the concept of the public library as “a truly democratic multicultural space” should be the core vision public libraries should have when attempting to serve a community.

  • Arnon says:

    After I read this article, I thought the public libraries are in a great position to provide a wide variety of literacy opportunities and also provide literacy resources for children, youth and adults at all levels that the public libraries in Sydney did, such as State library of NSW, North Ryde library or Western Sydney university library as well as the central library in Vienna. These libraries are a good example for many countries to follow especially by the bottom-up language policy.

  • Kaneko says:

    It is interesting to know that language policy is enforced not only by the authorities but also the engagement from the citizens within the shared cultural community. I believe libraries and librarians certainly play an important role in maintaining free accessibility of resources written in each language. Whether the media are hardcovers or websites, preserving collections in various languages is beneficial not only for migrants but local citizens to appreciate and share the cultures where they belong to or which they are interested in. I hope future libraries will foster the functions of keeping the records of written materials with multicultural backgrounds as well as places for circulating books.

    • Mark says:

      Hi Kaneko

      This is also the particular part of the article that fascinated me most. That balance and negotiation between the community’s requests and reading habits, and the curating librarian’s own beliefs and desires as to what works of literature to include in their collection, given the limited space and funds. It is an interesting dilemma shown in the contrast between the Russian librarian’s willingness to accommodate more ‘pop-culture’ requests with the inclusion of crime thrillers in the Russian collection, and the Turkish Librarian’s desire to maintain a collection that doesn’t reflect the local community’s reading habits as closely, instead being more representative of literature as it is in Turkey as the librarian sees it.

      Would I as a librarian in their position try to stock the English section in a more purist fashion as the Turkish librarian did, stocking it with high literature and the English Western Canon, Shakespeare and Dickens? High art one could show the Viennese library goers with pride as the widely regarded ‘best’ Literature the English language has produced? It is tempting to immediately say that this is how I would fill the English section, but I don’t imagine it would see as much traffic. It might remain unread and dusty on the shelves and thus not meeting the whole community’s needs and desires. Or would I be willing to instead stock ‘my’ shelves with whatever the local visitors requested as the Russian librarian did, regardless of my own judgement on the quality of that material?

      It’s an interesting question and I think that looking at is as everybody’s shelf belonging to the community, or your personal shelf might change your view. It needn’t be one or the other of course, in addition to language-learning material the librarian could of course have a more limited selection of each, though this more limited selection would have its own drawbacks. It speaks to the different desires of those two groups you mentioned. How would you stock ‘your’ shelf?

  • yy says:

    Australia considers as a cultural hotspot which mixed a variety of cultures, customs as well as languages from around the world. This makes this nation more interesting. Turn back to the topic, I visited Chatswood library last week, I was impressed by a diversity of language books by different languages such as Japanese, Chinese and Korean. I am quite excited about discovering multicultural events. This public library is an amazing place in order to help me to explore this.

  • Thet says:

    This article highlights the importance of language policies and a vital role of public libraries in building a harmonious and multicultural society and in creating a precious treasure for those from different linguistic backgrounds. Personally, I find this notion of public libraries as a good example for other cosmopolitan countries. Besides, it has led me to to initiate the idea of having such a public library in which there is a collection of different ethnic groups in my country. I will visit the central library in Vienna while I am in Australia and if luck favours me, I want to have a talk with a librarian.

    Thanks.
    Thet

    • Thanks, Thet!
      I think I may have made the post unnecessarily confusing by mentioning Austria and Australia so close together … they are different countries, of course …
      Even so, I very much hope you get to visit some of Sydney’s fantastic public libraries 🙂

      • Thet says:

        Dear Ingrid,

        This is not actually not because of the confusion, but because of my poor geographical knowledge. Could you please accept my apologies?
        I am highly appreciated of your kindness and looking forward to it.

        Actually, in my country, there have been several conflicts among ethnic groups and the authorities concerning language policies and rights as the official language is also the medium of instruction in schools which leads to high dropout rate in ethnic children and which causes the attitude that they loose their rights to study with their languages and that the authorities do not value their languages.

        What I am thinking is, “What if our country has that kind of public libraries?” Could we reduce those conflicts to some extent?
        This might be just a dream now, but i will find a way to make it happen when I am back to my country.
        Thank you so much.

        Kind regards
        Thet

        • Ingrid says:

          Thanks, Thet! That’s such an interesting idea – maybe you should pursue it for your presentation? 🙂

          You might find this report by Joe Lo Bianco helpful: “Conflict, Language Rights, and Education: Building Peace by Solving Language Problems in Southeast Asia

          • Thet says:

            Dear Ingrid,

            Thank you so much for your encouragement, and advice. As I have selected genres and written assessment tasks for the topic 2, I still cannot think how I can pursue it for my presentation. I was wondering if you could give me some guidance if possible.

            Again, thanks a lot for the report. It’s really of my interest.

            Wishing you for a full recovery and a lovely day!

            Best wishes
            Thet

        • Anas says:

          I am sorry to hear about the linguistic conflict in your country, Thet. It is sad when politics get in the way of education especially when education can drastically change their future. Yes, a valid question indeed about the public library as a safe haven for multiculturalism where ideologies, beliefs, religion, politics would have to ‘check out’.

  • Pegah Marandi says:

    Dear all,
    Library is one of the best places to both learn and meet new people from various parts, which is seen in libraries here in Australia; however, this does not mean all the countries are the same. For instance, in Iran, it is very prevalent nowadays to go to specific cafes (renovated old houses which is very cosy) to learn Classical Persian Literature. In Tehran, I remember I used to go to a cafe in Hafteh Tir Square, Naderi Cafe, which is an old cafe being built many years ago and many different poets sat there and wrote their masterpieces, and I used to read their books and discuss them with my friends. Thus, in countries where multicultural diversity is not bold, other places apart from libraries are set to meet new people, learn the classical literature, and join the weekly discussions. I think education is a pivotal aspect which should be considered among the people specifically the teenagers to build the motivations within them.
    With regards,
    Pegah

  • Thuy Linh Nguyen says:

    This article offers me an insight into public libraries in multi-cultural countries. In particular, these libraries enable communications between culturally and linguistically various groups to occur and provide materials in different languages and types. The language collections are either important foreign languages or that country’s migrant languages. This is totally new to me as in Vietnam, libraries’ collections are mostly in Vietnamese. I would definitely go to the library in my area to see how many language collections there are and what types of materials are provided.

  • gab88 says:

    I think the Vienna Library is a great example of how cultural diversity comes together. Growing up in Australia, it has always been a part of the landscape, cultural material which was and still is available in libraries. Learning language, even access to material in other languages. I often use my local library as a place where I can study and it is always full of people; young, old, middle aged, all there for different purposes. I see it as a safe place for people to come and share information. I used to take my daughter to the library for an activity called “rhyme time” where one of the librarian would sing songs and do actions to match, babies and toddler and parents would join in. It used to be so much fun and my daughter go a lot out of it, we would often stay behind and read books. Being a free activity the diversity in nationality was great.

  • Sunny says:

    There is a public library in Eastwood and I went there several times. I have to say, it is amazing.
    Library, I think, is different from other public places, such as playground, park or square. Library which can be seen as precious treasure, as people can gain knowledge from there.
    Nowadays, some people may argue that we do not need real books anymore, because of the development of the technology. But what I have discovered is that an increasing number of scholars and even ordinary people are turn to back to basics and even establish their own private library. Reading paper books seems became a kind of life style which relating to the spiritual world.
    Every time, when I walked into the library in Eastwood, it seems there had a kind of magic and made my heart calm down. Library can not be replaced by anything, as well as the real book.

  • Van Le says:

    I found this article interesting since the differences of public libraries in Sydney compared to those in my home country – Vietnam ,that I have realized recently during a visit to one of the libraries here, have been reflected in this piece of writing. Libraries in my country do not focus much in building and preserving multicultural factors as in Australia as we are quite homogenous in nationality and culture. I’ve been to the library in Cabramatta, Sydney (one of the suburbs that has the largest number of Vietnamese migrants in Australia) and it has books for Vietnamese children as well as Vietnamese librarians who volunteer to read and teach for elderly Vietnamese people who are illiterate as well as youngsters who were born and raised here so they can speak but do not know how to read and write in Vietnamese at all. I really appreciate their efforts into preserving our language and culture.

  • Farzaneh Morovati says:

    Hello,

    The library usually provides the opportunity for people (with different language proficiencies) to have access to different communities and recourses which I think this point may contribute to improve your general literacy in different fields as well. In my opinion, reading a book or any other written texts will become more rewarding if it is followed by related discussions with the people who are nearly competent in the topic (field). In some of the national libraries of my country, there are set groups who make appointments at library and read novels or masterpieces of past times and analyse the ambiguities for a particular time duration. That gathering gives a particular motivation to the members (newly joint people) to stay on track. When it comes to multiculturalism, the local libraries would be the best place for individuals to find the people of their same language and also other countries for interaction which this factor makes the atmosphere of the local libraries more vibrant. The individuals will become familiar with popular publications of other countries and traditions and share their experience. As I can see in the photos (provided in the blog), a library has made new announcements that the staff has provided new reading programs for teenagers and young children in the Persian library with new facilities. So, it is clear that library has prepared specific materials and places for specific group ages which would be to the benefit of the community they make. I think in this case; the literacy of the library members is considered and they can discuss based on the level of competency and literacy they have and the programs would not be more demanding for them as well.

    Thank you
    Farzaneh Morovati

  • Yao says:

    This is a really interesting reading. According to this reading, I can understand that these libraries, which are mentioned in this reading, have created many opportunities for multicultural Australia to have different cultures which can bring many benefits to Australian’s communities. This is because these different cultural libraries have created a useful path for improving cultural diversity in Australia. For example, young people can use the internet to access to different languages for making friends, negotiating maths problems or discussing favorite music even they speak different languages or come from the different cultural background. These libraries can give power to the literacy or give people to use languages to create strong connections between each other.

  • sam says:

    Australia, as one of the multicultural countries in the world, it is absolutely fantastic that the Viennese central library has set up bottom-up language policy in its library in order to involve more citizen and allow them to access to the platform where they can come in touch with the environment of language diversity in the library. This library is significantly beneficial those who are young such as students, I think. For instance, as mentioned in this article, various types of students who have different backgrounds, culture and language can interact in this library so that they would be able to expand their perceptions toward another culture or language, which can mean that this library can be the place where provides amazing multicultural learning in many ways. I hope our country can also more open to multiculturalism and dedicate to provide those kinds of public places for exchanging and experiencing several culture, rather than focusing on our own culture.

  • Cja says:

    Such an inspiring article to read, Ingrid! In fact, I must admit that I have not been to such multicultural or multilingual libraries like any libraries that you mentioned here. In my hometown, there are not many public libraries and actually most of the books are available in some particular languages only (e.g: English, Chinese). Target readers are perhaps mainly the citizens, but still open to everyone to come. That’s why I hardly had any talk with people from different backgrounds and culture when I went to public libraries in my country. Also, sadly, the librarians are not really helpful in terms of cross-cultural knowledge or languages. Then, I do hope there will be some changes in the policy or in the library management in the future in my country as well so that we have more chances to expand diverse cultural knowledge. I can gain knowledge by reading more books, but of course its better if we can have someone from their culture to share and discuss with.
    Reading your article did encourage me to pay a visit to some libraries in Sydney as I have not spent much time learning or experiencing diverse culture in this city.

  • Yan Yan says:

    In my opinion, the diversity of language and culture is reflected in diversity. We cannot look at multiple cultures from a single perspective. I think it’s a good way to promote multiculturalism and to promote it. As a public resource, the library promotes the development of multi-culture. On the other hand, multicultural also promotes the library to become a better service measure. The interaction between the two makes the multi-culture of the society flourish.

  • Wendie LIU says:

    Thanks for sharing your good opinions about the connection between the resources in public libraries and multiculturalism. Just as Professor Ingrid mentioned, the public library can be a place for the inhabitants from multicultural society to cultivate their social cohesion and boost the inclusive language legislation. From my point of view, the public library is not only a sound location for different kinds of people to obtain the diverse language materials, but also a means for people to learn from each other through sharing the way or experience they are learning about different languages. Besides, the multilingual resources in public libraries could possibly activate the incentives of the local citizens to enculturate themselves with more than one type of languages, which could be treated as a way for attracting vivid multiculturalism in some certain single-language dominant countries.

  • Jo. says:

    Thanks for this heart-warming and inspiring article. Promoting inclusivity within a multicultural society can be challenging as the differences can demotivate people from gathering together and interact with each other. Creating a platform based on shared interests (languages, arts) like the libraries above not only benefit the individuals but the society as a whole. Although my hometown is fairly homogenous in terms of nationality, multiculturalism is still an important social issue due to a large number of migrants from other provinces. I hope to be able to recreate the concept of shared literacy – shared identity experience so as to promote more harmony and cooperation.

  • Peter Austin says:

    There are impressive multilingual libraries in Helsinki (http://www.lib.hel.fi/en-GB/monikielinenkirjasto/), Stockholm (http://www.interbib.se/default.asp?id=3762 — note that the website is accessible in 9 languages), Oslo (http://www.dfb.deichman.no/ — with material in more than 38 languages) and many other European cities. Even my local borough library in London has a range of language materials and multilingual librarians.

    I was invited to give a keynote talk about endangered languages in August 2005 in Stockholm at The International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA) satellite meeting on The Multicultural Library (cant quite imagine linguists inviting librarians to their conference!). There I was lucky to get to meet and talk with a group of really impressive professionals who are working at the coal face of multilingualism and multiculturalism in various countries around the world. It was a humbling experience.

    • vahid says:

      Thank you Peter for your info! I just had a look at Stockholm library. To my surprise, it also included material in Persian (my mother tongue).
      health peace

  • Khan says:

    Dear Ingrid

    Many thanks for sharing the wonderful work of Busch and for encouraging young researchers (myself) in the field. I agree with your perceptive observations that individuals can do a lot to promote multilingualism. Though it is generally the power elite/government that influences language policy and planning decisions, this does not mean that the individuals have completely lost their agency. There are always spaces and times when individuals can make use of their agency as shown in your post.

    Thanks for giving confidence and encouragement. How can I read Busch work?

    Best wishes

    Khan

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