Annual Report 2005-2006 - Waverley Council

Waverley Council
Access and Equity Activities 2005/2006
People from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds (continued)
Dept Page No
Percentage of total library members identified as NESB. L&CS 97
There are 8,274 members who have indicated a reading language other than English. This
represents approximately 25% of the total membership. The main languages represented are:
Russian (1,331); French (1,236); Spanish (638); Chinese (620); and German (500).
Library resources in targeted languages other than English. L&CS 98
There are 9,012 items in library stock in languages other than English. This is marginally greater
than the previous year’s total of 8,768. The main languages held are: Russian (3,052); Spanish
(2,804); French (862); Polish (520); and Hungarian (456).
Loans per annum in languages other than English. L&CS 98
There were 40,729 loan transactions in relation to items in other than English.
ESL class visits to library per annum. L&CS 98
There were 4 visits made to the library by ESL college groups with
approximately 15 to 20 students in each group.
Inclusion of information in community languages. L&CS 112
New systems for recording, identifying and analysing the number of consultations with the CALD
community are to be developed along with new guidelines about the context in which the CALD
community should be specifically targeted. Initially this will be trialed in small pilots across Council to
be developed throughout 2006/2007.
Events targeting linguistly diverse community. L&CS 118
Council celebrated cultural diversity with events held during the Festival of the Winds in September
2005, Refugee Week in October 2006, the Global Table in April 2006 and Harmony Day in May
2006.
Festival of the Winds
Kite flying is a traditional element of celebration across many cultures and the Festival celebrates
diversity through kites, multicultural food, music and dance. This year’s performances show cased
West Indian, Brazilian, Argentinian, Chinese, Spanish, Pacific Islander, African, Indian and
Indigenous cultures. To encourage active participation, free dance workshops were offered, and
hundreds of local school children participated in kite making workshops in the lead up to the
Festival.
Refugee Week
A series of events was organised for Refugee week celebrating the tremendous contribution of the
many people who have come to the Waverley community as refugees. As a forerunner to Refugee
Week, Bondi Pavilion hosted: My family – Showing Diversity, a travelling photographic exhibition by
young people portraying their families, some of them from refugee background, and a series of
paintings by Jeeva Chapman expressing concern for the plight of refugees. On Friday 28 October
popular young comedian Hung Le, who came to Australia as a refugee, performed for about 100
people at the Eastern Suburbs Leagues Club, supported by the Solidarity Choir.
Harmony Day
Council contributed to the celebration of Harmony Day with a poster exhibition of the schools
competition organised by the Anti Defamation Commission of B’nai B’rith at Waverley Library, and
presentation of ‘The Local Government Perspective’ at TAFE’s Harmony Workshop on strategies for
building and maintaining a harmonious communities.
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Annual Report 2005/2006