16 July 2007

Library Services to Refugees: Update

I've posted previously about "library programs and services designed specifically to target refugee and/or immigrant populations." Just recently, UNHCR published a working paper entitled "Refugees and asylum seekers in the Caribbean region: library service implications," which includes a useful breakdown of the kind of typical information needs refugees often have.

A few of the online resources that the author mentions:

- Library and Information Services for Refugees and Asylum Seekers (Birmingham, UK) [access]
- Multicultural Resources and Services (National Library of Canada) [English access, French access]
- Multikulki [access] (service that provides translations of advice and practical information in 12 languages)

In addition, in her Public Libraries and Multicultural Relationships blog, Helen Carpenter has been reporting on her travels to Canada and the U.S. (to date; she'll also be touring Sweden, the Netherlands and Belgium in the fall) and how public libraries in these countries connect with refugees and asylum seekers. Here are some of the resources she links to:

- Civics and Citizenship Toolkit (U.S. Task Force on New Americans) [info.]
- New Americans Program (Queens Library) [access]
- Working Together (Human Resources and Social Development Canada) [access]

Posted in Web Sites/Tools.

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