libraries and multiculturalism in spain

Libraries and Multiculturalism in Spain

Susana Alegre LandaburuSub-Directorate General for Libraries Coordination. Ministry of Culture, Spain

Developing Public Library Services for the Future. Helsinki, September 2009

Hyvää päivää!God eftermiddag!Good afternoon!

Bonjour!¡Buenas tardes!

Topics

• Spain’s linguistic & cultural diversity• Immigration in Spain• Multiculturalism & Accesibility in Libraries

Working Group• Other Ministry of Culture’s activities• Multicultural library services in Spain• IFLA & the Multicultural Library Manifesto

Spain’s linguistic diversity

• 17 Autonomous Regions + 2 Autonomous Cities

• Spanish language official in the whole country

• 5 co-official languages in specific regions.

Spain’s co-official languages

• Galician- in Galicia• Basque- in Basque Country & the

northern territory of Navarre• Catalonian- in Catalonia & Balearic

Islands• Valencian- in Valencian Region• Aranese- in Catalonia

Spain’s linguistic diversity

• Co-official languages may also be spoken elsewhere without official status

• Linguistic policies & degrees of bilinguism are very varied

• Other languages without official status: Asturian, Leonese, Aragonse, etc.

Immigration in Spain

• Since 2000, one of the largest immigration rates in the world

• From approx. 40 million inhabitants in 2000 to 46.5 in 2009

• 2009: 5.5 million immigrants, 12 % of the total population

• 84% have arrived during the last 10 years, 41% in the last 5

Immigration’s distribution

• Regions with the largest percentages:Balearic Islands (21.7%)Valencia (17.4%)Madrid (16.4%)

• Regions with the lowest percentages:Extremadura ( 3.3%)Galicia (3.8)Asturias (4.1)

Largest foreign communities

• Romania, Morocco, Ecuador, United Kingdom & Colombia

• Excluding EU citizens, largest communities would be from:Morocco, Ecuador, Colombia, Bolivia, Bulgaria, China, Argentina, Perou, Brazil, Dominican Republic, Poland, Ukraine, Paraguay & Venezuela

Distribution

• 36.1 % Central & South America• 21 % Western Europe• 17.7 % Eastern Europe• 14.85 % North Africa

• Very different distribution in the Autonomous regions

Characteristics and integration• Spain’s fertility rate lowest in the world in 1996,

1.16. Increasing ageing population• In 2008:

Fertility rate recovered at 1.46. 20% of births from a foreing mother.Largest group of foreing mothers in 2008 from Morocco (26%)19% marriages: at least one of the spouses not Spanish

Characteristics and integration

• Reasons: better life quality/employment

• Education:9.3% illiterate or do not hold primary studies22.5% have higher education

Knowledge of Spanish language• Adult foreing population:

45% Spanish as mother tongue55% Other languages:58% speak Spanish very well/well14% don’t speak Spanish at all

• Children of foreing parents: 91% speak Spanish very well/well

Working group

• Multiculturalism & Accesibility in Libraries. Created in 2006

• Part of Council of Library Cooperation

• 21 librarians fom different administrations, regions & library types: national, regional, academic, special & public libraries

Working group

• Virtual & physical meetings• Documents such as guidelines• Advise, Contact & collaboration in

meetings, workshops, etc.• Projects

Otras lecturas: entre museos & bibliotecas (Other readings: between museums & libraries)

Working group

Other activities• 1st & 2nd Libraries & Cultural Diversity

Meetings2006: Gandía (Valencia). 2009: Cuenca

Other activities• 4th National Public Libraries Conference.Plural

Libraries. September 2008, A Coruña (Galicia)

Andalucía: Intercultural Libraries


• Started in 2001, part of Plan for Immigration of Andalucía Regional Government

• To ensure access for the increasing immigrant population

• To promote the different communities cultures among the local population

Andalucía: Intercultural Libraries•Different requirements for libraries to take part


• Agreement between regional and municipality governments. Each provides different funding

• 1st Intercultural Library: Albaicín (Granada)

Andalucía: Intercultural Libraries• Training in multicultural issues for librarians• Selection & cataloguing: circulating holdings• Signalling: pictograms• Activities:

Guided visits for schoolsLibrary users tranining Celebration of popular & religious festivities

Andalucía: Intercultural LibrariesMusic seriesFilm seriesStorytellingSpanish courses for foreigners

Website: Andalucía Entreculturasportal with useful information for immigrantsavailable in 8 different languagesnine categories

Madrid: Open Library

• 1990s: Gypsy minority• 2005: Biblioteca Abierta programme

(Open Library) starts. Madrid Regional Government.

• Objective: contributing to the integration and providing access to immigrant not having Spanish as first language.


• to disseminate the knowledge of the library services among the immigrants

• to create a Network of Centers of Cultural Interest (one per culture/language)

• to promote intercultural knowledge


• to act as intercultural interlocutors• to enhance the collection in other

languages and to make it useful and support the immigrants.

• to promote the different immigrant cultures among the Spanish users, so as to promote mutual understanding

Madrid: Open Library• Centers of Cultural Interest (CCI):

located in different Madrid libraries, according to the distribution of the immigrant population

• CCI: Romanian, Chinese, Russian, Bulgarian, Polish, Arab

• Bilingual signalling• 2009: creation of collection of Latin

American holdings


• Intercultural mediators• Training for librarians• Activities:

Presentations of books by immigrantsPublic readingsCelebration of festivitiesBibliographic exhibitionsFilm series

Madrid: Open LibraryEasy reading workshopsRound tables, conferencesHispanic-Romanian week, Hispanic-Moroccan, etc.Courses of immigrants’ languages

IFLA Library Services to Multicultural Populations Section

IFLA Library Services to Multicultural Populations Section

IFLA Multicultural Library ManifestoAvailable in 14 languagesTool for implementing multicultural library servicesIn process of approval by UNESCO

Kiitos paljon!