Public libraries are on the front lines of helping the tens of millions of immigrants and refugees survive and thrive in their new homes:

• In the US, the foreign-born population accounts for almost 14% of the total population—nearly triple the percentage from 50 years ago.¹
• In the UK it’s 17%, a rise of almost 3.5% in just the last 10 years.²
• In Canada, it’s 23%, the largest fraction in the country’s history.³

A major hurdle in their integration: English.

Learning English takes a lot of time, input, and practice. And your library is up against budget and bandwidth constraints.

In our 15+ years working with librarians, we’ve seen libraries of all sizes, budgets, and community demographics offer creative and effective ESL programs.

So, we interviewed them! And we’re sharing their best advice (aka all of it).

No AI-generated fluff. Just real advice from real librarians supporting ELLs.

In this free guide, you will get inspiration and actionable tips from librarians from Texas to Massachusetts to the UK about their programs for ELLs, including:

• Formal English Classes
• Conversation Clubs
• English Learner Book Clubs
• Dual Language Storytime
• Citizenship Services
• And more!

¹https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2020/08/20/key-findings-about-u-s-immigrants/

²https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/populationandmigration/internationalmigration/bulletins/internationalmigrationenglandandwales/census2021#:~:text=Out of the 59.6 million,were born outside the UK.

³https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/daily-quotidien/221026/dq221026a-eng.htm