World Language Storytimes

In 2018, as part of its strategic plan, the Naperville Public Library set a key objective: to enhance children's programming in world languages.

The U.S. Census Report for Naperville revealed that 22.9% of residents communicate in a language other than English (LOTE) at home. Collaborating with local school districts, the library identified the top ten languages spoken by community families based on percentage, out of the 100+ languages. Using this information, the library curated a diverse World Languages collection for children, featuring materials in these selected languages.

The library selected Spanish and Mandarin Chinese for regular world language storytimes.  It also introduced rotating Dual Language Storytimes, incorporating languages spoken by significant portions of the community. These sessions are presented half in English and half in the highlighted language. This initiative, spanning five years of meticulous planning and implementation, has garnered a positive and enthusiastic response from the entire community.

In this webinar, Naperville Public Library staff discuss how to create world language storytimes in your library.

For more information about this webinar, including speaker bios, visit the ILA event page. 

All ILA Noon Network webinars are free. The recordings are available to ILA personal members shortly after the webinars. Registration for all live webinars is limited to Illinois libraries.

Questions? Contact Tamara Jenkins, tjenkins@ila.org.