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This article is an excerpt from From Outreach to Equity: Innovative Models of Library Policy and Practice, by the ALA's Office for Literacy and Outreach Services; Robin Osborne, editor.

In the 1990, Memphis, like many other U.S. cities, experienced significant increases in immigration.  In response to the challenge of serving these growing communities, Memphis-Shelby County Public Library & Information Center launched InfoBUS, a mobile branch library dedicated to serving the county’s immigrant and refugee population.  This is a short history of InfoBUS.

When we began to strategize for InfoBUS service, we realized that we would need to find out how and where to meet our target audience. We accomplished this by meeting with agencies that provided services to immigrants and refugees. Library personnel began to serve on boards of these agencies, which provided invaluable information to help develop services for these distinct communities.

InfoBUS service began on September 9, 1999. The 40-foot bus featured colorful graphics with the words “Library” and “Welcome” in Spanish, Chinese, and Vietnamese. It offered eight computers with Internet access as well as English as a second language (ESL) collections and foreign language collections.  Staff included three bilingual librarians and a full-time driver/circulation clerk. In our first year, InfoBUS encountered nearly 6,000 customers, mostly at festivals, community fairs, church ESL programs, and ESL centers in city schools.

The library learned a great deal about the obstacles affecting service delivery. The most obvious barrier was language. We needed reading materials in several different languages; staff who could communicate effectively with diverse groups; and signs, forms, and documents in a variety of languages.  We researched collections of other library systems, interviewed InfoBUS customers and area service providers, and consulted with various publishers in order to establish a baseline collection. Our staff development department initiated basic and intermediate Spanish conversation classes. We relied on library staff and community contacts to translate important forms and signs.

Our first 18 months of InfoBUS service confirmed the need for the types of information and services we provided, as our usage increased by about 30 percent. However, we recognized the need to systematize services to the international community throughout Memphis and Shelby County. We invited ALA’s Library Administration and Management Association to conduct a workshop on serving diverse communities. The two-day training encouraged our administration and public service personnel to look critically at the services the library provided and to create a process for improving those services throughout the system.

After the workshop, we wanted to survey the community to identify needs and establish service priorities. Our diversity committee created a survey tool and polled 17 international community leaders, including clergy, health care providers, social service administrators, educators, and government representatives. Primary information needs were language development, employment information, and information on how to access health care and education. The primary barriers to meeting those needs were lack of multilingual resources and lack of awareness of services.

Survey respondents applauded the library’s efforts, notably outreach via InfoBUS, positioning of bilingual staff at key access points, and the development of foreign language collections. They also noted the need for more resources, visibility, bilingual staff, and targeted outreach. In essence, the respondents justified the need to expand InfoBUS services.

The InfoBUS currently averages about 40 stops per month, and it is difficult to juggle requests for service. There are not enough staff members or hours to serve every location and have a significant impact. Our goal is to acquire an additional unit designed for children’s services, with ample storage for art supplies, a fiction and nonfiction juvenile collection, and bilingual services for children in the Memphis City Schools ESL program and other agencies served.

One notable partnership has emerged with ESL instructors in the Memphis City Schools. The InfoBUS children’s librarian is learning about curriculum, activities, and resources used in ESL classes and will develop a collection to support the curriculum. InfoBUS staff will also create children’s programs that support English language development, offer parent and teacher materials that supplement classroom materials, and reinforce lessons and activities presented to students and their families.

The support of the administration of Memphis-Shelby County Public library and Information Center underscores that InfoBUS is part of the larger system. As InfoBUS staff members learn from our community, we must share this information with the rest of the system so that we deliver consistent services.  As we develop new practices to improve services, we must also communicate effectively with other library personnel. Our commitment to providing excellent service to the international community must be reflected in every branch and at every service point in the library system. Then the library will indeed have something for everyone.