West Orange Library Offers Books in Spanish

One of the strengths of the West Orange community is its cultural diversity. According to the West Orange Board of Education, 54 languages other than English are spoken in the homes of West Orange students today. Of those West Orange homes where a language other than English is spoken, Spanish is in the forefront. Sixty-two percent of the West Orange students who speak a foreign language at home speak Spanish.

The West Orange Public Library's mission is to encourage reading and to provide for the educational, recreational and informational needs of the community. As part of that mission, the Library will create a permanent foreign language collection to serve the needs of our community's diverse population. To serve the large number of Spanish-speaking residents, the Library will begin by developing a collection of popular books in Spanish for children and adults. The Library has received $500 from the INFOLINK Regional Library Cooperative for this initiative. The Library currently has a rotating collection of books in Spanish and Russian. The Library receives these books on temporary loan from the Newark Public Library. These books will continue to supplement the Library's permanent foreign language collection.

The new Spanish language books will be on the Library shelves on May 20, 2010. On the evening of May 20th at 7pm, we will be having a grand opening to introduce the new collection with light refreshments and a performance by the Arts and Folklore Dance Academy. The grand opening is free and open to all. Stop by the Library to check out this new collection, as well as all the wonderful resources and services the Library has to offer.