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Target Language Initiative

Since the late 1990s, Multnomah County Library has responded to the Portland area's increased linguistic diversity by working to improve services to speakers of Chinese, Russian, Spanish and Vietnamese. Find out more about the library's Target Language Initiative, including a 2006 Needs Assessment.

In 2009, the library released Welcome to the Library, a video series designed to provide basic information about how to use the public library. Available in Chinese, Vietnamese and Russian from the library's website, as well as in DVD format as part of the library's collection, the videos were funded by a grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services through the Library Services and Technology Act, administered through the Oregon State Library.

A set of the three "Welcome to the Library" DVDs was distributed to all public library systems in Oregon in Spring, 2009. Oregon libraries that would like to add the DVDs to their collections can download packaging artwork in the appropriate language: Chinese, Vietnamese and Russian.