Multicultural Toronto

Yesterday, I had two patrons - one older, one younger - requesting library cards. They spoke almost no English, but I was able to determine that the came from Uzbekistan (in Central Asia). Unfortunately, the Language Line team didn't have any Uzbek speakers. What to do...? It turned out that the older patron understood some Russian, so: We spoke to Language Line in English; Language Line translated it to Russian; and the older Uzbeki (Uzbekistani? Uzbek?) translated it in turn into Uzbek...!

The Language Line is a very useful tool - don't forget we have access to it. It used to be called "AT and T Language Line Services": they have access to interpreters in dozens of languages (ok, so there's no Uzbek service yet...) including Chinese (Mandarin, Cantonese, and other dialects), and Vietnamese.

Instructions for staff use are in folders at both Circ and Ref. Desk.

Updates:

The younger patron returned with his Russian-speaking father today, and JW at the Circ Desk repeated the process. All three now have library cards, and know how to sign up for Internet time.