Queens Public Library Launches Programs To 'Speak Your Language'

JAMAICA, QUEENS — The Queens Library aims to cross language barriers with a systemwide rebrand launched Tuesday.

The borough's network of 65 public libraries announced new efforts to better serve Queens' diverse communities, such as implicit bias workshops, cross-cultural training and translation devices — all under a new library motto: "We speak your language."

Changes announced Tuesday also include a name shift to Queens Public Library, a new website and a new logo, part of a long-term initiative called "Renewed Promise to the Public."

“Our ‘Renewed Promise to the Public’ is not just about words,” Queens Library President and CEO Dennis Walcott said. “It is about helping people get where they want to go in their lives by working hard to understand where they are coming from.”

Queens Public Library locations will have tablets dedicated to Google Translate to help employees speak with customers in multiple languages, and the library's new website is available in more than 80 languages. The library will soon pilot a language interpretation hotline at several branches, according to a press release.

About 600 to 800 languages are spoken in New York, according to the nonprofit Endangered Language Alliance, which says most of those languages have at least one speaker in Queens. More than half of Queens residents speak a language other than English at home, according to U.S. census data — about 1.2 million people.

Walcott announced the news Tuesday at Central Library at 89-11 Merrick Blvd. in Jamaica, alongside Queens Borough President Melinda Katz and City Council Member Jimmy Van Bramer, who chairs the Council's committee on cultural affairs and libraries.