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Services to Immigrants & Non-English Speakers

Continuing Education, Services to Immigrants & Non-English Speakers
The Tejano Experience: Serving the 3rd Generation Hispanic
November 29th, 2010 | Permalink | Comment?

The 3rd generation Hispanic is bilingual, bicultural and has lived in our community for decades, yet remains sparsely represented in our user base. How can we use the unique characteristics, traditions, and needs of this community to engage them and build the library habit?

Wednesday, December 1, 2010
1:00 p.m. – 2:00 p.m.
Online

For additional details and registration information visit: TSL: The Tejano Experience: Serving the 3rd Generation Hispanic
Continuing Education, Services to Immigrants & Non-English Speakers
Spanish for Library Staff
May 21st, 2010 | Permalink | Comment?

In response to suggestions from the Welcome discussion group we are pleased to offer 2 different workshops for library staff who serve Spanish speaking customers
(more…)
Services to Immigrants & Non-English Speakers, Services to Older Adults
Services to Older Adults Roundtable meeting: May 18th
April 28th, 2010 | Permalink | Comment?

Come, listen, and participate in the May 18th, 2010 Services to Older Adults Roundtable. The focus is on Health Literacy and the location is the Middletown Library Service Center.

We’re fortunate to have guest speaker Michelle Eberle, Consumer Health Information Coordinator of the National Network of Libraries of Medicine New England Region. Michelle served on the Center for Disease Control’s Expert Panel on Health Literacy for Older Adults.

Susan Hansen and I heartily encourage reference staff to come AND we encourage librarians to bring their senior center directors whenever possible. Register on CLC’s page.

Also, in case you missed it, you can also find an archived version of my April 6 national webinar “Libraries Go Boom” through the root webjunction ct site.

Bonus prizes for any and all who post information or resources up on our message boards at WebJunction CT prior to the meeting.

See you at the meeting; start time is 9:30 for cofee and networking, and the meeting gets started at 10:00 AM.
Children and Youth Services, Services to Immigrants & Non-English Speakers
Text4Baby
February 17th, 2010 | Permalink | Comment?

Text4baby is a free mobile information service designed to promote maternal and child health. An educational program of the National Healthy Mothers, Healthy Babies Coalition that counts among many partners the White House’s Office of Science and Technology Policy, text4baby provides pregnant women and new moms with information they need to take care of their health and give their babies the best possible start in life … using their cellphones! Women who sign up for the service by texting BABY (or BEBE for Spanish) to 511411 will receive free SMS text messages each week, timed to their due date or baby’s date of birth.

Text messaging via mobile phone can deliver the right health information at the right time to pregnant women and new moms, and can be particularly helpful in reaching underserved populations. While not everyone has access to the Internet, 90% of Americans have a mobile phone. Text messaging is disproportionately higher among women of childbearing age and minority populations who face higher infant mortality rates. In studies from around the world, mobile health services like text4baby have demonstrated the ability to help change improve health outcomes.
Reference, Services to Immigrants & Non-English Speakers, Services to Older Adults
Connecticut Money School: free financial courses
February 2nd, 2010 | Permalink | Comment?

Alert your patrons! The Connecticut Money School (CMS) provides free, volunteer-led financial education courses for adults in Connecticut.

The current course listings include these topics:

Debt, Saving, Credit, Loans, Health Care, Homeownership, Senior Issues, and State Benefits.

And are offered in these communities:

Bridgeport, Darien, Fairfield, Hartford, New Haven, Norwalk, North Branford, Orange, West Haven, and Westport.

Connecticut Money School (CMS) is a project of the Connecticut Association for Human Services (CAHS) and five nonprofit partners.
Breaking News from DLD, CT Library Community, Children and Youth Services, Grants and Reimbursements, Libraries and Technology, Library Development, Services to Immigrants & Non-English Speakers, Services to Older Adults
LSTA Grant Program
November 18th, 2009 | Permalink | Comment?

The Connecticut State Library is pleased to announce the availability of approximately $125,000 in Library Services and Technology Act (LSTA) funding for grants in seven categories. Program grant awards will range between $3,000 and $25,000.

See the LSTA page for applications, deadline, workshop information, program categories, and application guidelines.

LSTA funds are provided through the Institute of Museum and Library Services, the primary source of federal support for the nation’s 123,000 libraries and 17,500 museums. The Institute’s mission is to create strong libraries and museums that connect people to information and ideas.
Grants and Reimbursements, Services to Immigrants & Non-English Speakers
Ethnic Community Self-Help Program
October 16th, 2009 | Permalink | Comment?

This federal grant opportunity is from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Administration for Children and Families Office of Refugee Resettlement. Deadline: February 24, 2010.

From the Executive Summary:
The Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) invites the submission of applications for funding, on a competitive basis, to connect newcomer refugees and their communities with community resources. The objective of this program is to strengthen organized ethnic communities comprised and representative of refugee populations to ensure ongoing support and services to refugees after initial resettlement.

Read more here.

From ‘Award Information’ section:
Anticipated Total Priority Area Funding: $600,000
Anticipated Number of Awards: 3 to 8
Ceiling on Amount of Individual Awards: $200,000 per budget period
Floor on Amount of Individual Awards: $50,000 per budget period
Average Projected Award Amount: $125,000 per budget period
Length of Project Periods: 36-month project with three 12-month budget periods
Continuing Education, Services to Immigrants & Non-English Speakers
Free Webinar: Reaching Spanish-speaking Agricultural Communities
October 8th, 2009 | Permalink | Comment?

Spanish-speakers working in agriculture communities are looking to their libraries and other community technology centers for public access to computers. But like the recent Latinos and Library Perceptions Report confirms, there’s more to be done to reach out to these communities. Join special guests, Patricia Rempel, PhD, Reference and Collections Librarian at Coutts Education Library, University of Alberta and José Garcia, Teen and Reference Services Librarian, King County Library System and NW REFORMA Past President, for this free webinar as they share insights from research on perceived usages of community public access computers by Spanish-speakers in rural Washington gathered through interviews with information professionals. The presentation will include real life examples of library usage in these communities as well as the direct results of the outreach efforts of the libraries studied

Tuesday, Nov. 10, 2009
2:00 p.m. – 3:00 p.m.
Online

For more information and to register for this program, visit: WebJunction Calendar of Events
Children and Youth Services, Services to Immigrants & Non-English Speakers
Partnering with Parents and Families to Support Immigrant and Refugee Children at School report in pdf
August 27th, 2009 | Permalink | Comment?

The Center for Health and Health Care in Schools publication Partnering with Parents and Families to Support Immigrant and Refugee Children at School provides background on the impact of the immigrant and refugee experience on children and youth and the importance of engaging the entire family in addressing the mental health needs of immigrant and refugee students.

The publication lives at the Caring Across Communities section of the Center’s web site. If you’re interested in this topic, you might like the Immigrants & World Languages CT WebJunction site.

The report’s contents include:

•    The Changing Face of American Classrooms
•    The Impact of the Immigrant and Refugee Experience on Students
•    Families – A Critical Component of Student Mental Health
•    Working with Immigrant and Refugee Families
•    Offering School-based Mental Health Services
•    Partnering With Immigrant Families to Support Student Mental Health
•    Stronger Family = Stronger Students
•    Caring Across Communities Grant Initiative:
•    15 Model Programs
Services to Immigrants & Non-English Speakers, Services to Older Adults
Ready America
August 17th, 2009 | Permalink | Comment?

Ready America, part of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), is an “advertising campaign designed to educate and empower Americans to prepare for and respond to emergencies … The goal of the campaign is to get the public involved and ultimately to increase the level of basic preparedness across the nation.”

It has a kids section at and a Spanish site.

Because September is National Preparedness Month, you might hear more about Ready in the media. The overall goal is to have individuals do three key things: get an emergency supply kit, make a family emergency plan, and be informed about the different types of emergencies that could occur and their appropriate responses.

You can download ready.gov publications, and current content includes sections on preparedness for older Americans, military families, pet owners, and people with disabilities and special needs. Toll-free telephone numbers are 1-800-BE-READY and 1-888-SE-LISTO.

Connecticut has its own department of Emergency Management and Homeland Security.

Many towns and libraries have registered themselves (here) with Ready America, which gives access to a 51-page how-to manual on promoting disaster preparedness, posters, logos, a PowerPoint presentation, and web banners.