Project Welcome

About the Program

Category: Libraries (Best in Category)

Year: 2020

In 2018, Broward County Library launched Project Welcome, an exciting new initiative designed to welcome newcomers and English language learners to Broward County, inform them of the free, life-enhancing resources Broward County Library offered and support them on their path towards literacy, economic prosperity and a sense of belonging. It helps them navigate Broward County agencies, services and opportunities, with Broward County Library acting as an entry point for newcomers to become part of their new community. Project Welcome utilizes a multi-pronged approach that includes translation of library resources and guides into Spanish, Haitian Creole and Portuguese; the acquisition of new library materials in those languages; the expansion of English Café and citizenship classes; the creation of “Welcome” videos; and the development of a “Welcome Ambassador” program. It also includes the innovative use of Amazon Echo devices at library service desks to provide assistance in a variety of languages, the first library in the country to do so. Outcomes include media coverage, customer usage and a 2020 American Library Association’s Library of the Future Award, given “to honor a library for innovative planning for, applications of, or development of patron training programs about information technology in a library setting.”