With the opening of newly renovated newcomer services space last month, the Ottawa Public Library’s main branch hopes it’s now better equipped to serve the growing number of new Canadians in the city.
In the past, services for newcomers were held in a very cramped room so the library was unable to accommodate manyof them in a clearly designated and welcoming space, says Marcia Aronson, manager of adult reader advisory services at the library.
The $24,000 funding for the new space was provided by the Friends of the Ottawa Public Library Association. The library will now have room to host a larger variety of programming, such as English and French as a second language conversation groups; homework help for youth and adults; multicultural reading groups; information sessions on the Canadian citizenship test, using public health care, and starting small businesses.
This programming geared towards successfully integrating new Canadians is part of a much larger program called the Library Settlement Partnership, which brings together the Ottawa Public Library, Citizenship and Immigration Canada and various settlement agencies in the city.
It’s very hands-on work, says Pakhshnan Ahmed, a newcomer information officer for the Lebanese and Arab Social Services Agency who gets to know each newcomer and assess their level of need. Ahmed’s responsibilities range from translation to helping newcomers find furniture, school supplies and snowsuits.
“Sometimes they don’t know how to ride the bus, so I try to explain to them how to use the travel planner and that’s very helpful. I can show them to plan before they go out otherwise they will freeze in the snow. So most of them are very appreciative of that,” says Ahmed.
Immigrants make up almost a quarter of the city’s population, a number not as high as Toronto’s which is nearly half of the city’s population, says Aronson.
This partnership started three years ago with pilot programs in Ottawa, Toronto, and Hamilton. The unveiling of the main branch’s new newcomer space coincides with the expansion of the partnership program to eight more municipalities in the province.
“Our Government is helping make settlement services more accessible to immigrants,” says Immigration Minister Jason Kenney in a library press release. “Through this program, newcomers living in the area can access information on housing, transportation and employment opportunities in their neighbourhood library. Improving their access to settlement services will not only ease their transition to life in Canada, but also strengthen the community as a whole.”
The programming at the library has gained popularity through word of mouth. It’s not only attracting newcomers to Canada, but those who have immigrated many years earlier and still find integrating difficult, says Ellen Bulloch, a volunteer at the main branch.
“I like this program because so many volunteers come here to help us to study English,” says Min-Jin Lee who has been in Canada for over a month. She says she loves the program offered at the library for the opportunity to make new friends.
“As of right now we are at capacity, we’re unfortunately having to turn people away because we don’t have enough volunteers,” says Bulloch. She says she believes it’s the supportive network that the program creates for newcomers that makes it so popular.