Library attacked for stocking non english books

[Alonzo]

NASHVILLE, Tenn. Some people who live in Lewisburg are upset that the local library has bought some children's books which tell stories in Spanish.

At a meeting of the Marshall County Memorial Library board, an eighth grade social studies teacher said if one penny has been spent on Spanish language books, it's too much. Teacher Robin Minor said Tuesday he thinks a lot of county commissioners will be interested to learn of the expense. A few others also spoke against providing books not printed in English.

Asked how much of the library's 13-thousand-dollar public appropriation went to buy the books, a library official said the total was about 130 dollars. The board also told objectors the shelves held books in Japanese, Russian, Polish and French. Protesters responded that those books shouldn't be there either.

When the board told the protesters it planned no changes in library policies, those upset over the language issue said they would take it up with the county.

http://www.newschannel5.com/Global/story.asp?S=5470885

[CheesyMuslim]

Sorry bout that,

1. But should American Public Libraries be responsible to provide reading materials for all foreigners?
2. Should every book in the Library have an equal book in all languages?
3. Should we also require other languages that no longer are being used?
4. What about the American Indians?
5. Should their languages be included with every book on the shelves of Public Libraries?
6. To each of these questions, the answer is an emphatic: NO!

Regards,
SirJamesofTexas

[lily]

Um..........it's a library. Libraries are open to the public. I do believe that this country is the only country that is not bi-lingual.

[Buck Laser]

1. But should American Public Libraries be responsible to provide reading materials for all foreigners?
2. Should every book in the Library have an equal book in all languages?
3. Should we also require other languages that no longer are being used?
4. What about the American Indians?
5. Should their languages be included with every book on the shelves of Public Libraries?
6. To each of these questions, the answer is an emphatic: NO!

Regards,
SirJamesofTexas


Damn, I'm glad you're not on the library board in my town! Even though our neighborhood has a woefully inadequate library compared to what I was used to in IL, it does have books in various foreign languages, including Chinese, Vietnamese and Spanish. I've been told that reading books in languages other than your own is a good way to learn a language.

But then it's obvious that the booboisie have another answer. Why am I not surprised?

[Anti-Racism]

But then it's obvious that the booboisie have another answer. Why am I not surprised?


I might regret asking, but what are the "booboisie"?

[Buck Laser]

But then it's obvious that the booboisie have another answer. Why am I not surprised?


I might regret asking, but what are the "booboisie"?


It was a term coined by H.L. Mencken in the 1920s as a play on bourgeoisie, which I assume you understand the meaning of . You can probably proceed by induction from there.

[Rider]

Buck, I've got no heartburn over a few books stocked in other languages, but I'll be damned if I can figure out how you can learn another language by reading a book you can't understand.

[Elrathin]

Buck, I've got no heartburn over a few books stocked in other languages, but I'll be damned if I can figure out how you can learn another language by reading a book you can't understand.


I think what he is saying is that it helps you learn another language better having a book there in that language as a Supplement.

For isntance, I took Spanish a long time ago (Forgotten most of it now) however, I was able to understand the language better by reading books in Spanish. I used it as a supplement to my spanish classes.

There is nothing wrong with a library carrying books in another language. I do think that it needs to be balanced out though. I don't think the library should be spending say 50% of its budget on Japanese books for isntance or something silly like that.

[Buck Laser]

Buck, I've got no heartburn over a few books stocked in other languages, but I'll be damned if I can figure out how you can learn another language by reading a book you can't understand.

Simple enough. You either get a beginning textbook in the language, or you get a foreign language copy of a book you're already familiar with in English. By the way, I work on my Spanish skills by watching Spanish-language TV--either news or soccer. It's not too hard to pick up the gist of what's going on. Of course, it might be a bit harder with Japanese or Chinese, since they don't use alphabets.

[sbannon]

I can add a personal point of reference here. I decided to learn Russian a few years ago. Just as Buck described, I purchased a Beginner's textbook on the language (and a Russian to English dictionary) and once I completed the textbook I began reading books and even some online sources which were in Russian to expand and practice my skills. For someone who doesn't have Internet access, having such books in a local library would be highly beneficial.

[dgridley]

As of July 2003, the Hispanic population in the US was just under 40 million, making it the Nation's largest race or ethnic minority.

By 2050, Hispanics will, if the trend continues, constitute 24% of the US population.

Given this, we can assume the English language is not native to large numbers of Hispanics currently living in the US.

Now, I'm big on English as the official language of the US, but increasingly the trend toward a bi-lingual or even multi-lingual culture seems to be in our future.

It's more than just library books (which, by the way, I have no problem with foreign language reading materials in our libraries).

[Anti-Racism]

By 2050, Hispanics will, if the trend continues, constitute 24% of the US population.

Given this, we can assume the English language is not native to large numbers of Hispanics currently living in the US.

I believe there's something missing between these two paragraphs.

[dgridley]

??




By 2050, Hispanics will, if the trend continues, constitute 24% of the US population.

Given this, we can assume the English language is not native to large numbers of Hispanics currently living in the US.

I believe there's something missing between these two paragraphs.

[Anti-Racism]

Your argument did not make logical sense.

1. Hispanics constitute 24% of the population
2. Therefore, English is not their native language

I do not understand the correlation here.