My Library Is… Ensuring Everyone Is Welcome to Discover, Grow, Play, and Learn

The Downers Grove Public Library (DGPL) Summer Reading Club (SRC) is an annual, cornerstone program that promotes literacy, community engagement, and lifelong learning for all ages. The My Library Is… Grant funds afforded us the opportunity to translate all of our SRC program brochures into six languages for children, teens, and adults. This allowed us to further enhance inclusivity and accessibility at DGPL, reach a greater audience than ever before, and fulfill one of our many 2024 strategic plan goals. 

We knew we needed some help identifying which languages other than English were most commonly spoken in our community, so we enlisted the help of our partners, the Downers Grove School Districts 58 (elementary and middle schools) and 99 (high schools), to determine the top languages spoken in the districts. We were surprised to learn that the top six included Arabic and Russian, in addition to Spanish, Polish, Chinese, and Korean. We were also happy to learn that nearly six percent of all students were English language learners, and this did not even include parents, caregivers, and other community members who would benefit from these translations. 

Once we identified the aforementioned languages, we created a project timeline to make sure we could get the word out in advance of the SRC program start date. We advertised the translations in our May/June Discoveries newsletter, as well as on our eNewsletter, website, and social media. Our outreach and programming librarians brought them along when they visited the schools, township center, and senior care facilities to promote our SRC program. The following core elements, listed in chronological order, helped us to ensure a smooth and exacting process: 

• Worked with Districts 58 and 99 to determine most popular languages spoken in the schools 
• Developed content for Summer Reading Club brochures
• Researched, identified, and hired a professional translation service to translate all the brochures, ensuring cultural sensitivity and clarity
• Reviewed translated materials to ensure accuracy and cultural appropriateness
• Created the design and layout of the brochures, ensuring content is cohesive, visually appealing, and parallels the English language brochures
• Hired printing services and ordered brochures
• Decided on how and where to distribute and market brochures: school/site visits, hardcopies at service desks, and links to brochures on website, program flyers, and emails
• Promoted availability of brochures using online and print methods to reach as many community members as possible 

Our SRC participation rate was the highest ever including 586 adults, 130 teens, and 2,465 kids. We even gave away over a dozen prize books in languages other than English. Unfortunately, we could not determine the exact number of translated brochures that were used because our method for calculating usage was to subtract the total amount of brochures remaining from the original supply and our print vendor provided us with an excess number of brochures, of which we were not aware. We will use the existing brochures for next year’s SRC and hire a translation service to update the wording for themes, dates, times, etc. We will print the brochures in-house next year until word gets out and demand increases. 

Our work of being an inclusive place for everyone is an ongoing journey with no finish line. By translating our SRC brochures into six other languages, we demonstrated our commitment to equity, diversity, and inclusion, and encouraged bilingualism within our community by sending a clear message that knowing how to read multiple languages is valued and appreciated. We are grateful to RAILS for supporting our EDI efforts to ensure that everyone is welcome to discover, grow, play, learn at the Downers Grove Public Library.  

This week’s blog post was written by Jen Ryjewski, Assistant Director, Downer’s Grove Public Library. 

This project was made possible by the My Library Is... Grant.