Multicultural

Discover the State Library of Queensland's online multicultural library services. Find out about: public libraries in Queensland, searching the web in your own language, library collections in languages other than English, online newspapers and radio, learning English, Queensland's cultural heritage, and much more. There is something for everyone!

Online resources | Your local public library | Wilbur | Other resources

Online resources

The State Library of Queensland provides free access to the national MyLanguage website, international indexes and databases, and online newspapers and radio from around the world.

The State Library of Queensland holds a number of international eresources. If you have a membership card or are a member of a Queensland public library you can access some of the databases from home.

MyLanguage

MyLanguage is an online interactive space for public libraries, community organisations and culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) communities, to access information, language and culture.

Features include:

• Search engines, web directories and news in over 65 community languages
• Resources for planning, implementing and promoting multicultural programs and services
• Translations of government and community information about health, legal issues, settlement, education and libraries
• News and ideas blog for sharing resources and new developments
• Case studies highlighting great programs involving multicultural communities, libraries and other support organisations
• A guide to language collections across Australia
• A place to share your events, ideas and programs online.

MyLanguage is a joint partnership between Public Library Services South Australia and the State Libraries of Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria and Western Australia, Australia Capital Territory Libraries and Northern Territory Library.

The vision of MyLanguage is to use information technologies to enable libraries to empower CALD communities to achieve greater social inclusion and to maintain and enrich cultural and linguistic identity.

Online newspapers and radio links from around the world

Library Press Display – Access to 2200+ newspapers from 97 countries in 54 languages.
The paperboy - Browse the list of 6170 newspapers and ePapers from around the world.
Radio-locator- Links to over 13,000 radio stations' web pages and over 7400 stations' audio streams from radio stations around the world.

Queensland’s cultural heritage

Discover State Library collections that document Queensland history including its rich cultural and diverse heritage:

• Visit Queensland Stories to see and hear digital stories about Queensland people, communities and special places.
• Find digitised photographs in the State library of Queensland's image database Picture Queensland.
• Find out more about the other State Library Queensland History collections.

Your local public library

Queensland State and Local governments provide over 340 public libraries across the state. Many public libraries are community hubs, offering a variety of free services.

Find your local public library by searching the list of Queensland towns and suburbs.

Information about public libraries in Queensland is available in pdf format in the following 46 languages including English:

Your local public library can help you stay in touch with family, friends and news by learning new computer and Internet skills. Many public libraries offer a variety of free services where you can learn new skills:

• search information online in your own language
• read newspapers from many countries
• listen to music and radio in many languages
• email family and friends around the world
• send photos to family and friends around the world
• find information about your community
  

Contact your local public library for more information.

Language other than English (LOTE) resources

The LOTE collection of the State Library of Queensland has over 90,000 items in over 50 languages [PDF 79 KB] other than English. Individual language collections may vary in size and include adult fiction, adult non fiction, junior fiction and junior non fiction. Large print books, taped books, DVDs and music CDs are also available in some languages.This free service is available through your local public library.

If there are no books in your language at your library, ask the friendly library staff to get some for you from the State Library. A guide [PDF 1.25MB] to help you search the State Library's catalogue for books in over 50 languages is available in English only.

If you would like to improve your English skills, libraries offer a range of services if your first language is not English or if you want to improve your English. The State Library has resources for learners of English as a second language and for English speakers. By becoming a member of a public library in Queensland you may borrow a range of learning/teaching aids such as books, CDs, CD-ROMs and other electronic resources. This free service is available through your local public library.

Many libraries host English Conversation groups and literacy programs or they may be able to provide information about English language and literacy education and referral to local classes. Contact your local public library to find out more information.

Wilbur DVD + book set

In 2012, the Big Book Club Inc. in partnership with MyLanguage launched a new multilingual DVD and audio resource to support Culturally and Linguistically Diverse (CALD) families. The resource is based on the existing multilingual children’s picture book, Wilbur, which was published under The Little Big Book Club reading development initiative in 2010.

Written by renowned children’s author Phil Cummings and illustrated by Amanda Graham, Wilbur introduces concepts about Australian culture and recreation in a fun and educational way. Suitable for children aged 0-5 years, it is the first multilingual children’s picture book of its kind to be produced in Australia, with over 10,000 copies distributed free to new arrivals families since its release. 3500 were distributed throughout Queensland through public libraries working closely with community members, groups and organisations.

Wilbur was produced to provide families that do not have English as a second language with the opportunity to share stories in their first language. It is documented that children develop emergent literacy skills that are transferable across languages, so whether parents read aloud in their first language or in English, the benefits remain the same. Unfortunately, for many Australian children from bilingual backgrounds, opportunities for first language literacy before second language literacy are few and far between (Jones-Diaz 1997). This is why providing multilingual resources such as Wilbur is important for bilingual children as it can support oral and literacy development in both the first and second languages, leading to socio-cultural, linguistic and cognitive gains.

Building on the success of Wilbur, the multilingual DVD and audio resource has been developed to complement the book in digital ready, easily accessible formats. The result is a series of book readings available to watch and listen to in 14 different languages including: Somali, Tamil, Burmese, Persian-Farsi, Dinka, Hindi, Khmer, Nuer, Amharic, Chinese, Arabic, Vietnamese, French and English.

The Wilbur DVD featuring the readings is available to borrow from every public library across Australia. The DVD played a key role in supporting CALD communities during 2012 National Year of Reading celebrations by encouraging them to share stories in their first language as well as English to support their family’s reading journey. The Wilbur project was officially launched by special guest Phil Cummings at the 2012 MyLanguage Conference which was held at the State Library of Queensland August 2012. 

Other resources 

Lerni provides links to multilingual adult learning resources for emerging communities.  The website can be read in Arabic, Assyrian, Burmese, Dari, Dinka, Farsi, Karen, Somali, Swahili and Tamil as well as English. It includes four introductory computer training manuals to be used as a training resource.  It includes four introductory computer training manuals and information on courses and providers in Queensland and other states.