Foreign language library loans in Ryde resemble national figures

Ryde libraries loaned out thousands of foreign language titles last year, particularly in Chinese languages.

Stella Tay with Senior Librarian Kathleen Allen.

More than 42 per cent of Ryde’s population was born overseas and its libraries have a book collection to match its diversity.

There were nearly 78,000 foreign language book, DVD and magazine loans in 2015-16 at Ryde libraries in the three languages in its permanent collection: Chinese, Korean and Tamil.

The highest percentage of those born overseas in Ryde come from China, reflected in the library’s collection of 11,045 Chinese language books. More than 8 per cent of Ryde’s population speaks Mandarin at home and 7.1 per cent speaks Cantonese, compared with just 3 per cent in greater Sydney.

While Ryde libraries only own three foreign language collections, they have nine other — Greek, Gujarati, Italian, Japanese, Punjabi, Russian, French, Hindi and Spanish – available thanks to the State Library of NSW’s bulk loan program.

“Access to materials in their mother tongue aids new migrants feeling settled into their new communities, builds a sense of belonging and enhances learning,” Ryde library service manager Jill Webb said.

“It is well documented that learning in your mother tongue is faster than in a new or second language and allows parents to read to their children in their mother tongue, which builds language skills.”

Chinese language books are at all five Ryde libraries, Korean are at Ryde and West Ryde, and Tamil are at West Ryde only.

On the shelf:

• Chinese books: 11,045
• Korean books: 2784
• Tamil books: 702
  

Languages spoken at home:

• Mandarin: 8.6%
• Cantonese: 7.1%
• Korean: 3.9%
• Tamil: 0.7%