Academic Journal

Library and Information Services to the Arabic-Speaking Community: A Survey of Michigan Public Libraries.

Bibliographic Details
Title: Library and Information Services to the Arabic-Speaking Community: A Survey of Michigan Public Libraries.
Authors: Al‐Qallaf, CharleneL.1 (AUTHOR) c_alqallaf@yahoo.com, Mika, JosephJ.2 (AUTHOR)
Source: Public Library Quarterly. Apr-Jun2009, Vol. 28 Issue 2, p127-161. 35p. 14 Charts.
Abstract: Public Libraries tout that they serve diverse communities, even having collection development policies, programs, and service that recognize their dissimilar neighborhoods. The authors of this article, having noted the influx of Arab-speaking populations from Iraq and other Middle East countries to the United States, sought to find out the extent to which this population was receiving library service. The investigators discovered that four Michigan counties comprise a significant Arab-speaking population; in fact, that population base is surpassed only by that of the Middle East countries and Paris, France. The researchers constructed a survey, based on a successful model used with libraries serving Spanish-speaking populations and applied it to the Michigan libraries in the counties with a significant Arab-speaking population. The results reveal that the Arab-speaking neighborhoods, at least at the time of the survey, were not very well served (except in a few instances) by their public libraries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
Subject Terms: *ARAB Americans, *LIBRARIES & linguistic minorities, *PUBLIC libraries, *SOCIOLOGY of library science, *LIBRARY surveys, *LIBRARIES & minorities, *SOCIOLINGUISTICS
Geographic Terms: MICHIGAN
ISSN: 01616846
DOI: 10.1080/01616840902892390
Database: Academic Search Index