(Berwick Library Victoria, 2020)

Topic: Diversity

Activity: For this activity, I reviewed an electronic resource for children or young adults or about delivering services to young adults.

 

What Did I Learn?

LoveOZYA advocates for diversity in Australian young adult literature. LoveOZYA’s (2019) comment about the deaf community identifying themselves as culturally and linguistically diverse instead of ‘disabled,’ shifted my thinking. It made me realize that there is more to just addressing disability in the literature, Tetter says protagonists with disabilities are presented as ‘needing assistance’ or ‘overcoming their disability to achieve goals’ and that disability is predominantly presented from the lens of people outside the community. #LoveOZYA’s comment made me realize that the way librarians can facilitate community diversity is by understanding what it is that prevents engagement in the first place, in the Deaf community, it is the use of Auslan; then, raise awareness and bridge the communication gap by integrating both communities together.

How was the activity relevant to your professional practice working with children and/or young adults?

The 2016 Census showed that 67 percent of the Australian population were born in Australia. 49 percent were first-generation Australian or second-generation Australian (abs, 2017). Storytime can bring together families and children from various backgrounds. “In 2016, there were over 300 separately identified languages spoken in Australian homes.  After English, the next most common languages spoken at home were Mandarin, Arabic, Cantonese, and Vietnamese (abs, 2017).” Linguistical and cultural differences can discourage members of the community to engage with their community, including libraries. It will be important to address linguistical diversities in library services, in my professional practice. An example of this is the Boroondara Library Service in Victoria, which has addressed some of the local linguistical and cultural diversities by including Chinese Storytime (Boroondara, 2017).

#LoveOZYA’s commented that “the Deaf community may not always identify as having a disability or impairment and may define themselves as a culturally and linguistically diverse group due to their use of Auslan (LoveOZYA, 2019).”  Auslan translated storytimes are also rare to find; in my professional practice, I could use the Auslan Storytime application as a substitute service but this platform only offers a limited selection of books (Auslan Storytime, 2016). Auslan translated Storytimes may also be implemented, but this still segregates communities. Incorporating Auslan in physical and virtual storytimes can help bridge this gap (similar to interpreters on News channels). It will be important for me in my professional practice to try to address these linguistical diversities when delivering library services to children, as this can help foster a deeper acceptance of diverse communities in the future. 

I think this is an emerging topic that has been highlighted by several recent cultural, social, and political movements. Due to the rapidness and range of diversity, I will need to stay up to date with recent movements, practices, and issues.

Gaps in Knowledge and How to Fill Them?

I will need to do more research on how to plan, implement, and facilitate linguistically diverse activities for children. To fill these gaps, I can do some more research in academic materials and by observing how other public libraries have managed to integrate multilingualism into their storytimes. An example of one observation is the City of Sydney library, which has developed a bilingual storytime session in Mandarin and English for pre-schoolers (City of Sydney Libraries, 2020a). In this storytime video, each presenter addresses viewers in their native language (Mandarin and English), they then take turns reading the book in their languages. The book (I’m Coming to Get You by Tony Ross) is also bilingual, I think having books translated into multiple languages will also be important for diversifying storytimes. The Language Lizard can be a resource for finding multilingual and bilingual children’s books (The Language Lizard, 2020). The City of Sydney also has Auslan/English bilingual storytimes (City of Sydney Libraries, 2020b).

 

References:

Australian Bureau of Statistics. (2017). Census reveals a fast-changing, culturally diverse nation, 2016 (No.4430.0) https://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@.nsf/lookup/media%20release3.

Boroondara, C. of. (2017, February 28). Children’s storytimes and activities. City of Boroondara. https://www.boroondara.vic.gov.au/libraries/library-events/childrens-storytimes-and-activities.

City of Sydney Libraries. (2020a). Library bilingual storytime: 我来抓你啦！I’m Coming to Get You! – YouTube. www.Youtube.com. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GZJNOL14LI8.

City of Sydney Libraries. (2020b). Auslan and English storytime: Rabbit’s Hide-and-seek – YouTube. Www.Youtube.com. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x1kCvzJLojc.

LoveOZYA. (2020). LoveOZYA Logo. https://loveozya.com.au/a/wp-content/themes/loya/i/logo.png.

The Language Lizard. (2020). I’m Coming to Get You – Bilingual Children’s Book available in many languages. Language Lizard, LLC. https://www.languagelizard.com/I-m-Coming-to-Get-You-Bilingual-Book-p/im.htm.

Royal Institute for Deaf and Blind Children. (2017). Auslan Storytime. Royal Institute for Deaf & Blind Children. https://ridbc.org.au/hearing-services/hearing-resources/auslan-storytime/.

‌