Non-native English speaking families could potentially benefit more than anyone from the resources offered by the public library but are one of the hardest demographics to reach. Through increased contacts between the public schools and the library, it became clear that parent outreach coordinators already possessed the credibility and the contacts that the library needed in its effort to engage these families and offer them access to our resources.

The key to these partnerships was the library's increased focus on outreach. Successful relationships with individual parent outreach coordinators led to a contact within the school system's International Newcomer Center who offered immediate access to every coordinator in the county. These coordinators welcomed us to their schools for resource presentations, brought families to the library for tours and offered translation services. Several bilingual teens have even volunteered as library tour guides for new non-native patrons.

More than 400 library cards were registered to students and parents through partnerships with school parent outreach coordinators in 2016-17. The school professionals assisted in making a "Multicultural Library Expo" a reality by transporting their students and parents to the library and encouraging teens to volunteer as translators. We expect that these partnerships will allow us to steadily build our relationships with non-English speaking students and their families and support them as they develop.