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Winchester has become more diverse in recent years, with U.S. Census data showing about 16% of the community being of Asian descent, the largest ethnic population in town.
In order to meet a growing demand of patrons asking for foreign language books, most of which are for Chinese materials, the Winchester Public Library now has a selection of about 60 books in Mandarin.
“About 20% of them have been taken out during the two weeks they’ve been on the shelves,” said circulation staff member Charlie Gillis, of the new selections.
Winchester Public Library Director Nicole Langley has been planning for awhile to find books for the Asian community.
She said the library applied for a $2,500 En Ka grant last spring and those funds have gone directly to the purchase of the books.
“The library has supplied the costs for new labeling and staff hours to process the books, to get them ready for patrons to check out!” said Langley via email. “A large number of the titles we have gotten are simplified Chinese (written language associated with the spoken Mandarin). However, we are also getting some traditional Chinese books. Moving forward, the library has incorporated adding more books to this collection into our appropriated budget.”
Langley added any patron who requests materials, foreign language or otherwise, will find the library able to make requests from other libraries in the Minuteman Library Network.
“This is one reason why our library’s participation in the network is important,” she said.
So how are patrons responding to the new Mandarin collection?
“This is fantastic news,” said Town Meeting member and community leader Wei Han. “I’m really excited about the positive impact of the new resources now available from our library.
“It demonstrates the continuous efforts to build a more diversified and inclusive community in the town of Winchester,” he added. “These books will also inspire more intergenerational reading activities for Mandarin-speaking seniors and students learning the language from Winchester Public Schools and Winchester School of Chinese Culture.”
