Many Languages, One Shelf: The Building Bilingual Book Section Project

David Stockton

Sunshine Elementary, Springfield Public Schools, Springfield, MO

Introduction

This project allows English learners the opportunity to check out materials that represent diverse cultures and languages. Most materials are bilingual and include English translations on the same page. These resources promote and maintain ELs’ home languages and build English proficiency. As a result, students develop communication skills in both languages. Sunshine students speak the following languages: Farsi, Dari, Mongolian, Nepali, and Spanish. The project also promotes family engagement through the use of wordless picture books. Using sticky notes, family members and students participate in sharing their language and culture by writing storylines on the pages of the wordless books. The library promotes these resources and activities during literacy nights and book fairs. In addition, the student media team helps promote these resources and activities with promotional videos. Then, the learning community posts them on social media.

Step-by-Step Plan

Goals -

1. Provide independent reading resources written in the language of our students

2. Provide bilingual resources that help students maintain their native language and learn English

3. Increase library usage of the EL population

4. Create a collection that represents the languages and cultures of the learning community’s English language learner population

First, identify the need. The number of ELs at Sunshine Elementary increased which required the media center to seek multilingual and multicultural materials.

Next, identify and order bilingual resources and materials based on current enrollment.

Catalog and process the resources.

Create a bilingual section and promotional displays.

Have students record promotional videos to share on social media.

Promote these resources during school-wide events such as literacy/curriculum nights, music concerts, and book fairs.

Finally, encourage parents to participate in the wordless picture book activity.

Here is a video created by the Student Leadership Team: https://youtu.be/vgkiwQA1ceQ

Budget

Title	Total:
Story of the Mongolian Tent House	16.99
Our Haft Sin: (In English & Persian) (My Persian Family)	12.89
How Kids Live Around the World (Kids Around the World)	12.79
10 BOOK SET (CHILDREN'S BILINGUAL) - FARSI/ENGLISH	153.97
5 BOOK SET (CHILDREN'S BILINGUAL) - DARI/ENGLISH	75.97
3 LIVING IN HARMONY BOOKS SET (BILINGUAL DIVERSE CHILDREN'S BOOKS) - DARI-ENGLISH	43.47
My Bilingual Talking Dictionary: Bilingual Picture Dictionary (languagelizard.com)	24.95
3 LIVING IN HARMONY BOOKS SET (BILINGUAL DIVERSE CHILDREN'S BOOKS) - NEPALI-ENGLISH	43.47
FARMER DUCK (BILINGUAL CHILDREN'S BOOK) - NEPALI-ENGLISH	15.50
I'M COMING TO GET YOU (BILINGUAL CHILDREN'S BOOK) - NEPALI-ENGLISH	15.50
MY BILINGUAL TALKING DICTIONARY (BOOK ONLY) - NEPALI-ENGLISH	24.95
The Boy Without a Name: English-Dari Edition (Teaching Stories)
10 Book Set (Children's Bilingual) - Spanish/English	153.97
MY BILINGUAL TALKING DICTIONARY (BOOK ONLY) - SPANISH-ENGLISH	24.95
Am I small? Би бяцхан гэж үү?: Children's Picture Book English-Mongolian (Bilingual Edition)	24.99
English-Mongolian Outdoors/Гадаа Children’s Bilingual Picture Dictionary Paperback – Large Print	10.99
Bilingual Fairy Tales in Spanish and English: A Story Collection from Charles Perrault, James Planché, and Teodoro Baró y Sureda	14.90
Flashlight: (Picture Books, Wordless Books for Kids, Camping Books for Kids, Bedtime Story Books, Children's Activity Books, Children's Nature Books)	11.29
Float Hardcover	15.99
Zoom (Picture Puffin Books)	17.99
The Lion & the Mouse Hardcover	11.99
¡Sonríe! (Spanish Edition)	17.99
Hombre Perro (Dog Man) (1) (Spanish Edition) Hardcover	10.00
Hermanas (Sisters) (Turtleback School & Library Binding Edition) (Spanish Edition) Library Binding	24.70
Agallas (Guts) (Spanish Edition) Paperback	12.39
Hombre Perro: Historia de dos gatitos (Dog Man: A Tale of Two Kitties) (3) (Spanish Edition) Hardcover	9.18
Mongolian Folktales (World Folklore)	49.99
Egbert Turns Red/Эгберт Улаан Болов: Children's Picture Book English-Mongolian (Bilingual Edition) (Bilingual Books (English-Mongolian) by Philipp Winterberg	9.95
My First Mongolian Alphabets Picture Book with English Translations: Bilingual Early Learning & Easy Teaching Mongolian Books for Kids	9.99
Fly! Hardcover – Picture Book	12.39
Brown Is Beautiful: A Poem of Self-Love Hardcover	16.99
I Survived Hurricane Katrina, 2005: A Graphic Novel (I Survived Graphic Novel #6) (I Survived Graphix)	24.99
Sobreviví el naufragio del Titanic, 1912 (Graphix) (I Survived the Sinking of the Titanic, 1912)	10.99
Fantasmas (Ghosts) (Spanish Edition)	9.99
Hombre Perro se desata (Dog Man Unleashed) (2) (Spanish Edition) Hardcover	9.99
Our Day of the Dead Celebration Hardcover	17.28
Tuesday	14.99
The Wild Swans – Khoo'håye wahshee (English – Persian, Farsi, Dari)	9.95
Re-Zoom Paperback – Picture Book	10.92
¡Vamos! Let's Go to the Market (World of ¡Vamos!) Hardcover	8.89
Sobreviví los ataques de tiburones de 1916 (Graphix) (I Survived the Shark Attacks of 1916)	17.28
Emmie es invisible	25.14
Hombre Perro: Churre y castigo (Dog Man: Grime and Punishment) (Spanish Edition) Hardcover	11.69
La portadora de la piedra / The Stonekeeper: A Graphic Novel	15.98
Where the Winds Meet: Mongolia (Global Kids Storybooks)	21.48
Flotsam Hardcover – Picture Book	11.79
Sector 7 (Caldecott Honor Book)	11.99
El club de las baby-sitters: Un gran día para Kristy	18.99
My First Nepali Alphabets Picture Book with English Translations: Bilingual Early Learning & Easy Teaching Nepali Books for Kids	14.49
DARI Alphabet Color Picture book with Words and English Translations	13.89
La paloma necesita un baño (Spanish Edition) Hardcover	24.18
La paloma tiene que ir al cole Hardcover	25.93
No dejes que la paloma se acueste tarde	25.93
Mi amigo está triste (Spanish Edition) (Elephant and Piggie Book, An) Hardcover	9.99

What did it look like?

Sustainability

Grant funding for the Many Languages, One Shelf: The Building Bilingual Book Section Project serves as “seed” money. In other words, it assists the library in making an initial investment in creating a bilingual section that represents the needs of the EL population at Sunshine Elementary. The library media center would not be able to purchase these materials with the current budget limitations. We plan to add to the collection every year.

Acquisition of multilingual and multicultural materials is an ongoing process. These materials will be promoted at every literacy night. In addition, these items will be shared on social media and at staff meetings.

Family participation through the wordless picture books is also ongoing. Every year, families will be encouraged to add their stories to these materials.

What did it look like?

Reflections

Cataloging and processing these materials took longer than anticipated. Mostly, this is due to the language barrier between the cataloger and the language of the resource. Processing is also something that takes a considerable amount of time for the same reason.

Ideally, students would be involved in the process of promoting these materials. They would become ambassadors for the EL student population and also for these resources.

A helpful addition would be to include shelving and display materials to house and promote the new multilingual and multicultural books.

What did it look like?