ACRL News Issue (B) of College & Research Libraries 322 / C&RL News ■ M ay 2003 THE W AY I SEE IT Multilingualism at the reference desk Keeping students connected by Sandra Marcus I n o r d e r to f o s t e r r e f e r e n c e d e s k c o o p e r a ­ tio n a n d efficiency, a clearly a rtic u la te d refer­ e n c e p o lic y is v ital. T h is is e s p e c ia lly tr u e in a p u b l i c c o m m u n i t y c o l l e g e s u c h a s t h e Q u e e n s b o ro u g h C om m unity C ollege CUNY, w ith n in e a d ju n c t librarians su p p le m e n tin g a full-tim e facu lty o f s e v e n , se rv in g a s tu d e n t b o d y o f o v e r 10,000 (in c lu d in g p a rt-tim e stu d e n ts). H o w ev e r, th e specifics o f s u c h a p o lic y a re n o t a lw ay s e asy to d e te rm in e . This be ca m e ap p are n t recently w h e n a disagree­ m e n t t o o k p la c e b e t w e e n tw o lib ra ria n s a t t h e re fe re n ce d e sk . T h e so u rc e o f th e d isp u te w a s the a p p ro p ria te n e s s o f a c o n v e rsa tio n in S p a n ish b e ­ tw e e n a lib rarian a n d a stu d e n t. Since w e a re n o t a n official “bilingual sc h o o l,” o n e o f th e librarians s tro n g ly e x p r e s s e d h e r b e lie f th a t w h e n fa cu lty m e m b e rs s p e a k n a tiv e la n g u a g e s to fo re ig n s tu ­ d e n ts, “W e a re n o t d o in g th e m a n y favors!” B o th th e n a tu re a n d t h e in te n sity o f th is a tti­ tu d e su rp rise d m e. M y p h ilo s o p h y is th at th e p ri­ m a r y r o l e o f t h e r e f e r e n c e l ib ra ria n in a n a c a ­ d e m ic library is th a t o f u s e r e d u c a tio n a n d assis­ tance. I h a v e s o u g h t h e lp fro m a bilingual faculty o r staff m e m b e r o n m o re th a n o n e o c ca sio n w ith a s ty m ie d a tte m p t a t c o m m u n ic a tio n w ith a s tu ­ dent. T h e v i e w p o in t o f t h e c h ie f lib r a r ia n is th a t sp e a k in g a language o th e r th a n English to a p a tro n is acceptable, as lo n g as E nglish is tried first. H o w ­ e v e r, m a n y e d u c a to rs s e e m to a lig n th e m s e lv e s w ith th e “E n g lish o n l y ” p o s itio n , a n d a re o fte n v e h e m e n t in th e e x p re ss io n o f th eir o p in io n s. As re fe re n c e a n d in fo rm a tio n literacy c o o rd in a to r in a m ulticultural e n v iro n m e n t, I w a s fa ce d w ith th e n e e d f o r a d e fin itiv e a n d e x p lic it p o lic y o n th is issue. T h e q u e s tio n r e q u ire d s o m e t h o u g h t a n d study. W ith stu d e n ts from o v e r 120 countries, s p e a k ­ ing m o re th a n 100 languages, o u r college provides s e v e ra l le v e ls o f ESL (E n g lish a s a S e c o n d L an­ g uage) instruction, as well as a co m p re h en siv e lan­ g u a g e im m ersion program . O u r library faculty a n d staff in c lu d e s p e a k e rs o f S p a n ish , R ussian, M a n ­ darin, K o re an , G re ek , F rench, a n d Singhalese. A n in fo rm a l s u r v e y o f a r a n d o m s a m p le o f 100 s tu d e n ts re s u lte d in 81 p e r c e n t s u p p o r tin g native lan g u a g e com m unication. Interestingly, the m a jo rity o f t h e 19 p e r c e n t o p p o s e d w e r e n o n ­ n ative E nglish sp e a k e rs. N evertheless, after c are ­ fully w e ig h in g b o th sid e s o f th e q u e stio n , I h a v e r e a c h e d t h e c o n c lu s io n th a t in s p e a k in g n a tiv e languages a long w ith English to non-native sp e a k ­ ers, w e a r e d o in g th e m a favor. T h e m o st c o g e n t a rg u m e n t against m y c o n clu ­ sio n is th a t g ra tu ito u s o p p o rtu n itie s to u s e n ative la n g u a g e s w o u l d a b o r t c h a n c e s to p ra c tic e E n ­ glish. T his w o u ld b e ultim ately harm ful, b y d elay­ About the author Sandra M arcus is assistant p ro fe s s o r a n d c o o rd in a to r o f re fe ren ce services a n d in fo r m a tio n lite ra c y a t Q u e e n sb o ro u g h C o m m u n ity College CUNY, e-m ail: smarcus@qcc.cuny.edu mailto:smarcus@qcc.cuny.edu C&RL News ■ M ay 2003 / 323 ing b o th a stu d e n t’s learning o f English language skills a n d his o r h e r psychological a djustm ent to A m erican society. H ow ever, I co n te n d that a few m o m e n ts o f native language conversation will d o little to d e tra c t fro m th e h o u rs o f E n glish p ra c ­ tice re q u ire d for c la ssro o m lec tu re s a n d d isc u s­ sions, text a n d re sea rc h readings, a n d w riting as­ signments. Yet such conversation could a d d a great d eal to th e stu d e n t’s sc h o o l e x p erien c e in th e es­ tab lish m en t o f faculty relationship. As c o m p u te s have becom e ubiquitous in hom es a n d cam pus departments, a n d m ore a nd m ore digi­ tiz e d m aterial h a s b e c o m e available, th e ro le o f th e library itself h a s b e e n called into q uestion. In m y view, the library o f a c om m uter college is, a n d alw ays has b e e n , a source o f h u m a n contact, p ro ­ vid in g a s e n se o f c o n n e c tio n to th e school. P er­ h a p s th is a s p e c t o f o u r r e sp o n sib ilitie s w ill b e ­ c o m e e v e n m o re sig n ific a n t as w e c o n tin u e to p rogress into th e c o m p u te r age. T he academ ic li­ b ra ry c a n p ro v id e sy m p a th e tic au th o rity figures available fo r h e lp , as w e ll as a com fortable e nvi­ ro n m en t w h e re educational values are reinforced a n d th e p ro m ise o f success is invoked. M any o f o u r students are nontraditional, older, a n d struggling w ith job a n d family responsibilities w h ile trying to a tte n d classes a n d study. Feelings o f isolation a n d a lienation c a n interfere w ith col­ leg e success; o n e o f th e factors in th e e stab lish ­ m e n t o f le a rn in g co m m u n itie s, so p re v a le n t o n c am p u se s today, is this very issue. In th e in fo rm a l s u rv e y d e s c rib e d earlier, 25 percent o f the students questioned could n ot n am e all o f their teachers. W h e n trust a n d h u m a n c o n ­ n e ctio n s a re e stablished, feelings o f a n x ie ty c a n b e d im inished, m otivation c a n b e increased, a n d m a n y educational obstructions c an b e overcom e. I c o n te n d th at a fe w m in u te s o f c asual c o n v ersa ­ tion in a native language can d o m ore to help som e foreign students— enhancing their self-esteem a nd sen se o f belonging a n d strengthening their possi­ bilities o f success— th a n h o u rs o f subject instruc­ tio n in English. M oreover, o th er aspects o f library policy have a d d ressed th e n e e d s o f foreign students. W e have p ro v id e d special c o m p u te rs w ith C hinese, J a p a ­ nese, Russian, a n d K orean language characters so th a t s tu d e n ts w h o w is h to e -m a il le tte rs h o m e m ay d o so in their native languages. W hy n o t p ro ­ vide the sam e k ind o f accom m odation in o u r c on­ v e rsa tio n s w ith th e m , if w e can? Unfortunately, w e are n o t all m ultilingual, a n d w e c annot com m unicate in all th e languages s p o ­ k e n b y o u r students. Inferring a specialized injus­ tice from this is illogical. W e also c an n o t b u y every b o o k that every student needs. This d o e s n ot m ea n ( c o n t i n u e d o n p a g e 3 3 6 ) 336 /C &RL News • May 2003 7. Does the budget support an appropriate level of staffing and compensation? 8. How is the adequacy and availability of funding for other libraiy resources (e.g., Archives and Special Collections) determined? 9. Does the library budget reflect the library’s responsibility for acquiring, processing, servicing, and providing access to media and computer re­ sources? 10. To what extent does the library director/ dean have authority to apportion funds and ini­ tiate expenditures within the library budget and in accordance with institutional policy? 11. How does the library monitor its encum­ brances and the payment o f its invoices? How does die library determine its choices and sched­ ule its expenditures? 12. Does the budget include adequate support for extended campus programs? ( “M ultilingualism . . "con tin u ed from p a g e3 2 3 ) we are being unfair in providing for some students and not for others. All we can do is attempt the best assistance we can for as many students as we are able to reach. This is true for every aspect of library service. Furthermore, I believe that native language conversation is o f value to the college and the librarian, as well as to the student. The connected student does not drop out. This improves the re­ tention rate for the college, but, more important, it enhances the librarian’s sense of accomplish- Notes 1. ACRL Task Force on Academic Library Out­ com es Assessment, 27 Ju n e 1998, http:// www.ala.org/acrl/, go to “Publications,” then “White Papers & Reports.” 2. Ibid, p. 4. 3. For a further discussion of space require­ ments, refer to: Metcalf, Keyes D. Planning Aca­ demic and Research Library Buildings, 3rd ed. Philip D. Leighton and David C. Weber, eds. Chi­ cago: American Libraiy Association, 1999, c2000. Appendices B and C. 4. Regional and subject-based accrediting as­ sociation guidelines can help direct the institution in its planning and assessment. 5. ACRL G uidelines for Instruction Pro­ grams in Academic Libraries, http://www. a l a . o r g / a c r l , g o t o “S t a n d a r d s a n d G u id e lin es."* ment. The moments that provide the greatest re­ wards in my job do not come from looking at my paycheck, completing a needed project, examin­ ing new books, or even succeeding with a difficult search (although this comes close). The moments that provide the greatest rewards appear when a student comes into the library, eyes shining with joy, saying, “I got an A on my paper! Thank you for your help!’’ Such moments enrich the lives o f both stu­ dent and teacher, no matter in what language the words are expressed. ■ Subscribe to ACRL e-mail updates ACRL offers e-mail update services to keep you informed about important issues within the association and the academic and research librarianship arena. ACRL Update ACRL Update is an e-mail notification service designed to keep you informed about ACRL ini­ tiatives, professional development opportunities, publications, and other items o f interest in the academic and higher education community. 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