Diverse populations in Saskatchewan: the challenges of reaching them
Date
2010
Authors
Salt, Lorraine
Kumaran, Maha
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
The Partnership: Provincial and Territorial Library Associations of Canada
ORCID
Type
Article
Refereed Paper
Refereed Paper
Degree Level
Abstract
Saskatchewan is more diverse than it was even 5 years ago. Although historically
Saskatchewan has always had a diverse immigrant population, with immigrants from
many European and Eastern European countries, recently there have been other large
immigrant communities arriving from several parts of the globe through various
significant government initiatives and policies; some as refugees, some as guest
workers, some as international students with their families. Not only is this diverse
immigrant population growing, but the social make up of the new immigrants is also
changing. There are many reasons why Saskatchewan is receiving more immigrants.
This paper states those reasons, discusses the history of immigration in Saskatchewan,
the current immigrant situation, and the role libraries can play in educating, informing
and entertaining these immigrant populations. This paper focuses on new immigrants
coming into Saskatchewan and does not discuss other groups that are part of a diverse
society such as aboriginal populations, seniors, the GBLT, or French Canadians. The
authors sent out questionnaires to see what other libraries in Canada have done in this
area and have used programs and services offered by both the Vancouver Public
Library and the Toronto Public Library as examples of what can be offered to diverse
immigrant populations.
Description
Maha Kumaran,
SHIRP Co-ordinator,
Saskatchewan Health Information, Resources Partnership,
Health Sciences Library,
107 Wiggins Road,
Saskatoon, SK.
S7N 5E5,
phone: 306-966-8739,
fax: 306-966-5918,
e-mail: maha.kumaran@usask.ca
Keywords
multiculturalism; Saskatchewan; diversity; public libraries; academic libraries
Citation
Partnership: the Canadian Journal of Library and Information Practice and Research, vol. 5, no. 1 (2010)