Tuesday, February 3, 2009

SLO update from Stevensville - North Valley Public Library

Our SLO program is growing by leaps and bounds! Community response has been wonderful. We are receiving inquiries almost every day for the past two weeks due to the recent press releases for our new programs.
1. We began a free, 6 week ESL (English as a Second Language) class held at the library and received a initial positive response which continues to grow daily.
2. We also began our Spanish Conversation Group for those who already know some of the language but need practice. This group met at the library last week for the first time and there were 8 attendees. Since then there have been numerous inquiries from other interested people.
3. Serendipity brought us a new Mexican restaurant (Fiesta en Jalisco) across the street from our library. This has inspired interest in Hispanic culture from members of our community. Our Spanish Conversation Group already communicates with the Hispanic employees and will meet at the restaurant once a month.
4. Check out of our Spanish/English materials has increased significantly.
5. One of our patrons donated a subscription to People magazine in Espanol.
6. The staff learned how to change from English to Spanish language on most web sites.
7. Plans are underway for a pot luck gathering to celebrate St. Valentine's Day (as well as Cinco de Mayo) with the ESL class and the Spanish Conversation Group.
8. The BIGGEST news is our good fortune to have recruited a native Spanish teacher working short term at the library until she begins her Masters Program at the University of Montana. Her name is Catalina Gerner. Please welcome her to our SLO Blog.
Sincerely, Amy Ling

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Congratulations! ¡Enhorabuena!

Your program, and your staff and board's dedication to it, is to be commended. Best of luck for continued success!

Jean M. Canosa Albano, M.L.I.S.
Manager of Youth & Outreach Services
Springfield City Library...A Place for You
220 State Street
Springfield MA 01103
(413) 263-6828, ext. 291 (VOICE)
(413) 263-6825 (FAX)
(413) 263-6835 (TTY)
Se habla espaƱol
jcanosa@springfieldlibrary.org

Catherine McMullen said...

Great to hear things are happening there in Stevensville! I should encourage Bozeman Public to subscribe to a magazine or two.

Kathy said...

Amy - Who teaches the ESL course? I like the idea that it is 6-weeks in length because it is not an indefinite commitment and can be re-run anytime.