Library’s ESL conversation program off to slow start

The Spokane County Library District has launched a conversation program for English as a second language learners at its Airway Heights and North Spokane libraries.

However, the program got off to a slow start when just two people showed up in Airway Heights. No one showed at the North Spokane Library.

“We knew it was going to be difficult to get going,” said Gwendolyn Haley, library services manager for education and enrichment. “It’s a completely new area we are getting into.”

Haley, whose adopted daughter arrived in the United States as a 4-year-old with no English skills, said the library is constantly looking for new services to offer the community.

The library has partnered with refugee organizations in the Spokane-area, and Haley said she’s hoping the program will appeal to adults who sometimes become isolated because they stay home with young children.

“School-age children become the bridge culture of the whole family,” Haley said. She added that refugees may not have any experience with libraries depending on where they come from, and that it’s overwhelming to approach a library full of information in a language one is not familiar with.

Conversation volunteers have been trained by instructors of English as a second language from Spokane Community College.

“We offer a safe place for English as a second language learners to practice,” Haley said.

If the program doesn’t take off as planned, Haley said the library will have learned something and try again in a different manner.

“This is something that’s very close to my heart,” Haley said.