We as TWIN schools are not fulfilling our missions as two-way immersion learning environments if our commitment to balanced language learning stops at the classroom door. The mission is most certainly unfulfilled if our libraries do not include a significant number of books in the target languages, and even more so if there are not books that reflect the linguistic diversity of our schools overall. If your school libraries are monolingual, and all titles, or a large percentage of titles, are only in English, then you have a wonderful opportunity to expand to reflect your school's new TWI identity.
If you aren't sure where to begin, consider using these resources to select books.
For instance, the Campaign for America's Libraries has produced a series of short videos of authors who have written books about the Latino experience: http://www.atyourlibrary.org/connectwithyourkids/reading-together/top-10-spanish-books-kids
Many publishers in the English-speaking world are beginning to recognize the interest their consumers have in learning some Mandarin, Cantonese or other related languages. There are a number of books in these languages. Some are English language titles that have been translated, while others are geared towards learning more about Chinese culture and traditions: http://www.chinesebookshop.com/english/chinese-english-books/mandarin-english.html
Share your experiences and ideas regarding Spanish and Chinese language titles on our TWIN Forum: http://www.twin-cs.org/forum.html#/20140224/expanding-our-libraries-adding-spanish-and-ma-2-3703315/
-Mary Bridget Burns
If you aren't sure where to begin, consider using these resources to select books.
For instance, the Campaign for America's Libraries has produced a series of short videos of authors who have written books about the Latino experience: http://www.atyourlibrary.org/connectwithyourkids/reading-together/top-10-spanish-books-kids
Many publishers in the English-speaking world are beginning to recognize the interest their consumers have in learning some Mandarin, Cantonese or other related languages. There are a number of books in these languages. Some are English language titles that have been translated, while others are geared towards learning more about Chinese culture and traditions: http://www.chinesebookshop.com/english/chinese-english-books/mandarin-english.html
Share your experiences and ideas regarding Spanish and Chinese language titles on our TWIN Forum: http://www.twin-cs.org/forum.html#/20140224/expanding-our-libraries-adding-spanish-and-ma-2-3703315/
-Mary Bridget Burns