PUBLIC LIBRARY RESOURCES AND PROGRAMS FOR MEDITERRANEAN LANGUAGES GROUPS IN AUSTRALIA.

Australia has welcomed migrants and refugees from many countries in the Mediterranean region over many years -Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Greek, Serbian, Croatian, Bosnian, Maltese, Turkish and French to the most recent arrivals speaking Arabic and its many dialects. Examples of best practice services in NSW public libraries demonstrate how public libraries support these culturally and linguistically diverse communities and how libraries and museums are preserving the cultural heritage and memories of communities. Their current challenges include providing resources for the ageing populations of some of the language groups and sourcing resources for the newest arrivals. Edited version of a paper presented at the Ifla satellite meeting Palermo Sicily 31 August-1 September 2009. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]