Rewriting Book on Libraries From Immigrants' View

Branches Catering to Immigrant Needs

After Shahla Mostafavi arrived in Montgomery County from Iran a decade ago, the public library became her comfort and refuge -- a place to learn about her adopted land and meet new people. "For immigrants, the first place they usually go is the library," she said last week as she sat in the Gaithersburg branch library.

In the next room, Fares Azzoug, 25, an Algerian, checked his e-mail and filled out a Selective Service form on one of the library's computers. He later joined Cesar Chavez, a Salvadoran, and a score of other new arrivals for an English conversation club. "For me, it's very, very important," said Chavez, gamely practicing his new language. "When I came, I am not speaking any English."

As the Washington suburbs draw more immigrants, many of the region's public libraries are recasting themselves as welcome centers for "new Americans," emulating a program pioneered decades ago in the New York borough of Queens. Signs at the Gaithersburg branch identify the checkout desk in Chinese, Korean, Spanish and Vietnamese. The profusion of return dates stamped on the back of Chinese romance novels shows the popularity of the library's growing foreign-language collections.

At a time of controversy over the outlay of public funds for day-labor centers that help immigrants find work, libraries are spending similar amounts of money to provide English-learning and foreign-language materials that primarily benefit the region's foreign-born residents.

"As the county has changed, so have we," said Parker Hamilton, director of Montgomery County Public Libraries. In 1990, 21 percent of the county's residents ages 5 and older spoke a language other than English at home, compared with 35 percent who do today, according to census data.

Fairfax County Public Library Director Edwin S. Clay III said libraries historically have acted as gateways to language and culture for new arrivals. "We've simply updated that," he said.

He and Hamilton said that adapting to immigrant constituencies hasn't displaced traditional users. "Our volume of business is up -- significantly," Clay said, but he added that the growth has come in new areas such as online, instead of increased visits and circulation of books and other materials.

Where the suburban public library of yore was a quiet place where residents could find something to read, today it is a noisier building with a more complex mission. "We're a conduit to social services," said Lillian Snyder, who manages Gaithersburg library. She and her colleagues have helped customers contact immigration authorities and other government agencies, complete online job applications and solve housing problems.

Many corporations and government agencies now require applicants to contact them online, which drives people without computers to libraries -- one of the few places Internet access is free. One result is that librarians spend a good deal of time helping people operate printers and unfreeze their screens in addition to leading them to sources of information.

Signs of Gaithersburg's immigrant influx, old and new, abound in the library. One day last month, books were on hold for six customers whose last names begin with N: Na, Narasimhan, Nakoski, Ngo, Nguyen and Notto. The snack cart in the lobby offered corn dogs, pizza and pretzels as well as the foods of more recent immigrants : empanadas and steamed buns. And in the men's room, the graffito "MS-13 100%" -- the acronym is shorthand for the Latino gang Mara Salvatrucha -- appeared on a partition. Snyder had it painted over immediately.

Five years ago, a Montgomery task force conducted focus groups and a survey to assess the libraries' effectiveness in reaching out to immigrants and minorities. "Both the immigrant groups and the African American groups saw a need for much more cultural sensitivity on the part of the staff," members of the task force wrote. "People felt unwelcome and looked down upon and said they were treated unfairly and inconsistently. Customers want more staff who speak their language or share their culture."

The system now employs staff members who speak Amharic, Chinese, French, Korean, Spanish and Vietnamese. Since the survey, the library system has sped up its acquisition of foreign-language materials. Collections exist in Chinese, Korean, Spanish and Vietnamese, and librarians plan to add French and Russian materials next fiscal year. Computerized language labs are available at three of the county's 20 full-service branches.