English Language Learning Centre The Library's existing Language Learning collection -housed in the West Wing -consists of books, tapes and videos to help not only those learning English as a second language, but also English speakers improving their literacy skills. It is increasingly heavily used and more and more materials are needed, which are often more costly than other books or tapes in the Library. In addition, our librarians frequently receive requests for an in-library language learning centre. The Library plans to significantly upgrade its role as an adult learning centre by providing a personal computer dedicated to in-library use of CD-ROMs for language learning, incorporating materials for teaching languages such as French and Japanese to English speakers as well as for teaching English and improving basic literacy. This could be located in a carrel near the existing English Language Learning collection and would consist of: ♦ Personal computer with CD-ROM mini-changer and printer; ♦ start-up collection of approximately 30 CD-ROMs with a few for inlibrary use and the rest for borrowing (on topics such as TOEFL exam preparation and language practice in English and other languages); ♦ Millwork for carrel to accommodate PC (either a new station or adapting a carrel near the ELL Collection); ♦ Wiring to improve lighting in the Language Learning area; ♦ Steno-chair for PC station; ♦ Books, videos and audio- tapes for English Language Learning Collection; ♦ Books, videos and audiotapes for learning other languages. As these books, videos, audio-tapes and CD-ROMs would be arriving in addition to all the library materials bought in the normal course of the year, and because they often require labour-intensive processing and cataloguing, the Technical Services staff will require additional hours to cope with the work load. If they do not receive this support, it will mean unacceptable delays in preparation of all Library materials. Multilingual Collection Cheryl McGregor explained to our February meeting that, concurrent with the increasing demand for language learning materials, the use of books in other languages is increasing - reflecting changes in the population of West Vancouver. The Library has been enhanced in recent years by generous donations of books in other languages from the Iranian and Chinese communities, but additional funds must be allocated to improve our Multilingual Collection. This is especially true now that the federal Government has discontinued the Multilingual Biblioservice which in the past provided books in other languages free to public libraries. To make wise choices, the library would benefit from having the latest census data on the demographics of West Vancouver. As Census Canada now charges for this specific data, some money could be spent on such a report from the. The Library keeps track of how often and when books circulate, and notes requests from patrons for books in other languages. Using all this information, a determination can be made as to which languages to concentrate on and how much money to allocate t each of the languages. A preliminary and cursory look at our own statistics and observations indicates a need for more books in French, Chinese, German and, possibly, Russian, Japanese and Spanish. This collection serves both English speakers brushing up their language skills in their first language, as well as long-time and more recent immigrants reading in their first language. The next meeting of The Friends will be on Wednesday March 25, 1998 at 7 pm in the Peters Meeting Room