team all the 43T librarians

You may have be familiar with resources like “Spanish for the Health Care Field” (to help doctors and nurses serve Spanish-speaking patients better). Well – I want to create a set of electronic flashcards (and maybe other resources) on “Spanish for the Library Field”. There are a few vocab lists out there (like this great and comprehensive one) but no library-specific phrase books or resources for actual practice (that I’ve found so far).

To that end, I am brainstorming a bunch of common phrases/sample interactions that librarians in public services might use frequently in working with the public. I’m talking the daily grind sort of stuff; obviously for more complicated reference questions, different vocabulary would be necessary.

I can think of a lot of ideas on my own (i.e. the bathrooms are over there, do you have a library card? etc.), but seeing as I don’t yet have a lot of front lines experience, I thought I would try putting it out there to the rest of you. I’m interested in common interactions with patrons of all ages, preferably those that are less obvious but common all the same.

Thanks!

ETA: in case anyone without any Spanish background wants a resource for REALLY basic library-speak, there’s also this pamphlet from the DuPage Library System.

I have talked about getting my MLIS to a number of non-library people over the past 2 months, and in every single conversation, the other person has said something similar to:

“Hmmm, libraries – aren’t they basically obsolete/going away sometime very soon? (you know, with the Web and all…)”

Well, no. At least, I don’t think so. And there are a lot of reasons why not. But I find I have a hard time spitting out compelling reasons/defenses in these situations, that is, without resorting to library-speak and without expounding for 5 minutes or more.

I hate soundbites, but I can’t help wondering if there is a concise and impactful way to address this sort of comment. In the training for my VISTA*Americorps year, I remember that we had to practice “elevator speeches” – quick spiels we could use to explain what we were doing and why. It would be nice to have something like that at the ready.

So whaddaya think? How can I be a better advocate? What should I be saying? How can I explain the importance of libraries in 60 seconds or so, and in terms most people can understand/appreciate?