Over 300 residents from black and minority ethnic groups across East Sussex took part in the open day, aimed at raising awareness of the library services which are available to everyone, regardless of race or language.
The winter celebration is part of a £50,000 initiative dedicated to improving library access for black and minority ethnic groups, currently under represented as users. Consultation took place at the end of last year involving the race equality group Sompriti which asked 100 of their members how libraries could become more relevant for them. Responses were received from the Portuguese, Chinese, Spanish, Bangladeshi, Pakistani and Gujurati communities.
Councillor Meg Stroude, Lead Member for Libraries, who spoke at the event said "Library membership needs to reflect the diversity of East Sussex, where over 60 languages are spoken. The feedback from the open day and from the questionnaires, which challenge libraries to increase resources for minority ethnic groups and undertake targeted staff training, will lead to visible improvements in libraries throughout East Sussex”.
The open day showed all those involved in the consultation what libraries have to offer in the biggest, busiest library in East Sussex. Participants went on tours around the library, families and children took part in story time and educational games, while the computer suite was open for people to surf the web. Multilingual resources from Bollywood DVDs to adult fiction in Gujarati and basic skills books were hired out on the day.
The success of the winter celebration, with over 30 new library members joining on Sunday, is just the beginning of a more inclusive service, and feedback from the consultation will inform improvements throughout East Sussex libraries in 2005.
Reference:
05/042/EF
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