Presentacin de PowerPoint

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Settlement and Public Libraries Initiatives and
Potential Laura Heller and Susan MacDonald OCASI
Executive Directors Forum Tuesday October 21,
2008 730-830
Titulo de la presentacion
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Session Objectives

• Share information about a new settlement sector
  program
• Review and consult with the settlement sector on
  its potential
• Provide a rationale for Executive Directors to
  share information with their staff about LSP and
  facilitate client referrals
• Consider program expansion
• Consult with settlement sector about evaluation
  approaches

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Overview of Presentation

• Overview of international efforts of public
  library initiatives in diverse communities
• Newcomer information needs and information
  seeking practices
• Partnership opportunities
• Overview of LSP (history and current
  developments)
• Evaluating impact of information services to
  newcomers

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Overview Introduction

• Review Canadian experience and LSP in particular
  in light of overall response of the public
  library sector to address the changing
  constituencies of users
• Touching on some US, British and Canadian
  experiences as samples of relevant approaches
• International Federation of Library Associations
  (IFLA) also taking leadership in developing
  resources, strategies and professional
  development opportunities

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Strategic Context

• Overall numbers of migrants have increased
  internationally which has engendered academic and
  policy debate around the following concepts
• social capital and civic participation
• integration and social cohesion
• The challenges posed by these concepts and by
  rapid change means there is an urgent need for
  local councils and other organisations to think,
  plan and deliver more collaboratively, and to
  share good practice more effectively and they
  need support to do so.

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Role of Public Libraries

• But why is this relevant to public libraries?
• Vital and well established community asset
• Bring people together in context of community
  interaction and often development
• Provide access to reading, learning, information
  and citizenship
• Support formal and informal skills development
• Gateways to knowledge and their resources provide
  for individual and shared discovery and
  empowerment.

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Examples of Library Services to Newcomers United
States

• Provided services and resources to newcomers
  since the late 19th century
• Traditional departments have expanded to include
  multilingual services, collections, and programs
• Introduced New Immigrant Centers
• Post 9/11 focus on public libraries role in
  integrating New immigrants into American culture
  New Americans Library Initiative

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Examples of Library Services to Newcomers Canada

• Social inclusion removing barriers to full
  participation in all aspects of Canadian society
  rather than integration
• Programs and services in Canadas public
  libraries reflect new social inclusion principles
  
• Working Together initiative (2005-2008)
  www.librariesincommunities.ca

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Overview Examples of Library Services to
Newcomers UK

• Welcome To Your Library
• a ground-breaking project in the UK connecting
  public libraries with refugees and asylum seekers
  
• developed major tools, practices, and an active
  communication tool (its listserv) shared
  throughout the UK and elsewhere

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Research on Immigrants Information Practices
What are the information needs,
pathways/sources, and barriers to information
experienced by immigrants throughout the
settlement process? Report authors Professor
Nadia Caidi, Doctoral students Danielle Allard
and Diane Dechief, University of Toronto, Faculty
of Information
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New Immigrant Information Needs

• Language information (e.g. translation and
  interpretation services)
• Pre-migration information
• Employment information, such as job search skills
• Housing information
• Information about making connections in the
  community (e.g. professional associations,
  volunteer opportunities)
• Information about new culture and orientation to
  Canadian life

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Longer Established Immigrants Information Needs

• Health and employment information
• Educational information
• Political information and current events
• Language learning information (e.g. ESL)
• Information about transportation
• Information about identity construction (e.g. how
  to position themselves vis-à-vis Canadian
  society)
• Information about culture/religious events

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Information Pathways/ Sources of Newcomers

• Family and friends, local and transnational
• Media sources such as newspapers and the Internet
• Organizations such as community centres and
  settlement agencies
• government

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Barriers to Accessing Information for Newcomers

• Language (e.g. fear of speaking English)
• Suspicion or mistrust of authority
• Isolation and feeling like an outsider
• Using children to find information
• Lack of familiarity with Canadian information
  institutions/sources
• Cultural differences
• Not knowing how to ask for services

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Information Practices

• Information practices An umbrella term that
  captures the complex ways that individuals
  actively or indirectly look for information to
  help them make sense of their lives.
• Everyday Life Information seeking (ELIS)
  (Savolainen 1995)
• Habitual, non-rational, multiple goals
• Newcomers need to establish new patterns and
  information sources in a culturally alien
  information environment (Mehra Pappajohn 2007)

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Information Poverty

• Information poverty Lacking necessary
  resources such as adequate social networks and
  information finding skills that enable everyday
  information seeking.
• Are new immigrants information poor?
• Need basic information for survival Limited local
  social networks
• Little knowledge of the Canadian information
  environment
• Buttypically new immigrants have high levels of
  education and often have non-local or
  transnational social networks

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Benefits of Partnering with Libraries

• Offer programs that target newcomers
• Community Information Referral Services
• Adult Education Literacy
• Multilingual Collections
• Other Resources

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Library Programming for Newcomers

• 1x1 tutoring ESL, literacy, citizenship help
• ESL classes
• Computer classes ESL and other languages
• ESL story time for pre-schoolers and parents
• orientation sessions on healthcare, job search,
  how to obtain a drivers license

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Library Collections for Newcomers

• Multilingual collections in first language (books
  and audiovisuals)
• English books that are easy-to-read
• Newspapers and magazines foreign and local
• Dual language materials especially for young
  people
• Tools such as bilingual dictionaries

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Library Services for Newcomers

• Data bases
• Internet service and some training on how to use
  it
• Research services and assistance to support adult
  education, community programs, employment efforts
  (self employment etc)

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Community Information Referral Services in
Libraries

• Public libraries have provided community
  information and referrals since the 1970s
• Developed electronic databases that later became
  networked with other libraries and organizations
• www.211.ca an example of such an initiative

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Adult Education Literacy in Libraries

• Libraries have a long history of partnering with
  literacy agencies
• Offer 1x1 tutoring integrating citizenship
  information support
• Story time programs develop pre-literacy skills
  in pre-school children and also offer adults
  opportunity to practice English

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Libraries Inclusion of Newcomers

• How can libraries ensure that their traditional
  programming is truly inclusive?
• Opportunities for communities and libraries to
  extend the reach and participation in such
  library-driven activities such as book reading
  clubs, local history, etc.
• Newcomer involvement in such areas as
  participating in collection development
• Strategic planning and other decision making
  processes to include newcomers

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Summary

• There are numerous well-documented examples of
  public libraries as providers of services for
  culturally diverse communities.
• Services for approach usually includes
• Collections in different languages
• Internet access enabling library users to keep in
  touch with what is happening in other countries.
• Programs targeted at specific underserved groups
  in such a way that they are seen as a separate
  add-on rather than part of core services
• Programs often have been over-dependent on the
  commitment of specific individual members of
  library staff
• The approach adopted has tended to be
  service-led, rather
• than transformational.

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From dream to reality - LSP

• Given the potential for settlement sector /
  public library partnerships to improve settlement
  and long term quality of life of immigrants, what
  is LSP and how is it contributing?

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Some background information

• LSP grew out of the Settlement Workers in Schools
  initiative.
• The Settlement Workers in Schools (SWIS) Program
  is a very unique partnership model first piloted
  in 1999 that involves the participation of
  settlement agencies, school boards and CIC.
• The program reaches out to newcomer families by
  placing settlement workers in elementary and
  secondary schools. By placing settlement
  services where all school-aged children must go,
  we are able to reach a greater number of
  newcomers than through traditional points of
  service.
• During the summer months when school is out,
  settlement workers needed to find other places in
  the community where they could deliver services.
  The library became a popular spot for SWIS
  workers.
• Libraries saw the benefit of having settlement
  workers in the library year-round, not just
  during the summer and thus, LSP was born.

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Rationale for LSP

• Like SWIS,
• LSP brings settlement workers to where clients
  are.

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LSP in CIC

• LSP derives its funds from ISAP A funds.
• ISAP A includes the following services
• Initial needs assessment
• Information and orientation
• Interpretation and translation
• Referral to appropriate community resources
• Solution-focused counselling
• Employment-related services
• ISAP A is delivered by over 160 service providing
  organizations (SPOs) across Ontario both
  ethno-specific and multi-ethnic organizations
• 60 of SPOs are located in Toronto
• Over 200,000 clients were served in 2007
• Other initiatives that receive funding through
  ISAP A include
• SWIS, ELT, JSW, etc.

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LSP Enhances the Settlement Sectors Service
Delivery Options and Reach

• Traditionally CIC funded services are available
  to
• Permanent Residents
• Protected Persons
• Persons whose applications for Permanent Resident
  status have been approved in principle
• Live-in caregivers (ISAP services only)
• Canadian citizens and refugee claimants are not
  eligible clients.
• However, LSP expands eligibility
• Co-funding allows for access by non eligible CIC
  clients. LSP is considered to be a co-funded
  project because of the non monetary in-kind
  contributions the library provides.
• Provides another and very public venue to promote
  and deliver settlement services

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LSP History

• LSP was first piloted last year in three library
  systems
• Toronto Public Library (7 branches)
• Hamilton Public Library (3 branches the
  bookmobile)
• Ottawa Public Library (7 branches)

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History of LSP

• Based on the initial success of the pilot, LSP is
  now in expansion mode in Toronto (to 19 branches)
  and is just getting off the ground in
• Windsor (3 branches)
• London (4 branches)
• Kitchener (2 branches)
• Waterloo (2 branches)
• Brampton (2 branches)
• Vaughan (1 branch)
• Richmond Hill (1 branch)
• Markham (2 branches)

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Languages and Communities of LSP Service
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Pilot Communities
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New Communities
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Summary

• Total of 49 branches served by 23 agencies
• 11 communities participating (3 pilot and 8 new)
  each represented by one public library system (11
  systems)
• Pilot phase consisted of 12 agencies serving 20
  branches
• Expansion represents a doubling of total numbers
  and tripling of the number of communities
  involved

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What Does LSP Do?

• One-on-one service
• Group programs (information sessions and also
  places to facilitate community interaction
  conversation circles, etc)
• Outreach (to promote the program and increased
  understanding of public libraries and what they
  offer)
• Supports information sharing and progress of two
  sectors both committed to information service,
  education, and community development

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Structure of LSP (like SWIS, a partnership model
of service delivery)
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Conclusion

• Next steps for LSP include further developing the
  program in the current 11 communities
• Looking for new programming opportunities (new
  activities, new branches and new communities)
• Capacity building through training, sharing best
  practices, etc.
• Evaluating the program

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Evaluation

• Open discussion about the experiences of
  participants in evaluating information services
  and what might be something we could review for
  LSP?

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What you can do

• Keep informed www.lsp-peb.ca
• Share information about LSP with staff and
  settlement sector colleagues
• Consider becoming an agency partner as the
  program expands

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Thanks and keep in touch!coordinator_at_ciclsp.ca