The Long Beach Public Library (LBPL) is asking foreign-language speakers in the community to share what they would like to see in next year’s English education program.
“We will gather all that information and data and then use it to assign the programs that we expect to run for the next year,” said Ana Villalpando, literacy coordinator for LBPL.
To help gather feedback from the community, the LBPL is inviting the public to an event called “Tell Us How You Want to Learn English at the Library” at the Michelle Obama Library on Tuesday, Dec. 14 from 5:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m.
Attendees are welcome to bring their children to the event, and free parking will be available on site.
“It is pretty informal, or at least that’s the atmosphere we would want to create,” Villalpando said. “We don’t want anyone to feel pressured to share their insights or their experiences with previous [English as a second language] (ESL) programs. We want them to feel that it’s a safe space where they can communicate their needs.”
The LBPL has created five questions to ask participants during the Dec. 14 event, which include the following:
- Why are you interested in learning or improving your English and how would this change your daily activities or your life?
- Have you been to ESL classes before? What was your experience, what worked and what didn’t?
- What type of programs to learn English would you like to see at the library?
- What does the library need to keep in mind when it’s planning its programs?
- Do you have any concerns about joining an ESL program at the library? And how can these programs seem more accessible and friendly to community members?
“We have a certain variety of questions that we have crafted in order to direct the conversation, but obviously it’s open according to where the participants will lead us,” Villalpando said.
The LBPL hosted the event at the Burnett Neighborhood Library previously, and will likely bring it to other branches in the future.
“We will probably try to do something similar at some other branches so we can have representative data from all the different communities in Long Beach,” Villalpando said. “And that will also help us to see what type of programs would work better at each of the locations.”
According to data gathered by the U.S. Census, between 2015 and 2019 over 46% of Long Beach residents ages 5 and over spoke a language other than English at home.
The LBPL currently has two ESL courses that it holds through Zoom. One of the classes teaches English vocabulary to native Spanish speakers using translated crossword puzzles, while the other focuses on reading and translating short news articles.
“Obviously we extended the invitation to our learners that are already coming to our programs,” Villalpando said. “But we want to gather information or the insights of patrons that do not necessarily come to our programs to see how we can design programs that they’re interested in.”
Those who are unable to come to an in-person event can share their thoughts on next year’s ESL program by emailing Villalpando at Ana.Villalpando@lbpl.org or calling her at 1 (562) 570-6959.
