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Collection Development Manual > Libraries & collections > Central Library > World Languages

World Languages

[and other call numbers, each beginning with the first few letters of the name of the language in English]

The World Languages collection consists of both fiction and non-fiction materials, and is primarily a circulating collection for adult general readers. The nonfiction portion of the World Languages collection is primarily composed of practical, general interest titles, on subjects such as cooking, parenting, self-help, job seeking, and health. The few reference works collected are primarily in Spanish, and most are general reference works such as encyclopedias.

Target languages for this collection are Spanish, Chinese, Russian, and Vietnamese, which are, after English, the four most common native tongues of the population of Multnomah County. Materials in these four languages make up the majority of the collection. The library also maintains a moderate collection of materials in French, German, Arabic, and Japanese, as well as a minimal number of items in a few dozen other languages.

Adult native speakers of Chinese, Spanish, Russian, Vietnamese, Japanese, and Arabic are the chief users of the World Languages collection. French, Italian, German, Japanese, and Russian are also popular with adult students who are learning these languages.

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Materials that support language learning, such as grammars, dictionaries, textbooks, and phrasebooks, are kept with the Language collection. At Central Library, this collection is kept in the Humanities rooms.

Bilingual and multilingual dictionaries and vocabularies that cover only a single subject are kept with other materials on that subject. For example, a multilingual dictionary of terms useful to nurses and other health practitioners would be kept with the Medicine collection, and a vocabulary of legal terms in different languages would be kept with the Law collection. At Central Library, both of these collections are kept in the Science & Business room.

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Central Library has the largest collection of Chinese, Russian, and Vietnamese materials in the library system, while the Gresham Library has the largest collection of Spanish language books. Several of the other neighborhood libraries (especially Hollywood, Midland, North Portland, Rockwood, and St. Johns) maintain significant collections of materials in some or all of the four target languages. The distribution of target language materials in the World Languages collection is based on the demographic distribution of speakers of the target languages throughout the county, and on available shelf space.