Citizenship Corner

Citizenship Corner

According to the Institute of Museum and Library Services more than 55 percent of new Americans use the public library at least once a week. They find a trusted environment, resources, and community connections that can ease the way to full participation in American society. For many people, new to the US, libraries serve as a gateway to citizenship, English language learning, and civic engagement.  Libraries offer educational materials and training resources on immigration and citizenship. This complicated and lengthy naturalization process is made easier by the combined efforts of literacy programs and libraries in Oklahoma.

The term Citizenship Corner is being used across the country to indicate an area designated to serve non-native speakers. Grant sites established Citizenship Corners in ten libraries and one partner location in Oklahoma. These areas are marked with banners and displays and are equipped with computers with bookmarked websites, United States Citizenship and Immigration Services materials, and other materials that may be of interest. Our particular Citizenship Corner was won through a grant that I wrote back in August and the Guymon library was the only recipient of this grant in 2021. We offer a computer specifically designated for immigration, citizenship test prep, and language learning with no time limit. We are still in the process of setting up the web page on the library’s site that will have direct links to forms, test information, immigration information, etc. With this grant, the library also purchased Transparent Language Online which offers ELL lessons and citizenship lessons for free. Users of the program can learn at their own pace and on their own time either on a computer or a digital device (cell phone, tablet, etc.) through Transparent’s mobile app. We have already seen a great interest in this program.

The Citizenship Corner grant also allowed us to purchase multiple materials for ELL and citizenship test prep including an entire curriculum for English Language Learning classes that could be checked out by anyone who is interested in teaching and/or by those who are learning. The corner also provides a shredder for people to use in the corner instead of having the staff shred for them, a printer that is designated just for the corner’s use and will provide free printing service, already printed forms that we often get asked for, and study areas. And while the grant has been spent, we hope to continue adding more resources and services to this area.

The project is funded by the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) which announced a national collaboration with USCIS to enhance the resources available in libraries throughout the country and strengthen the ability of librarians to guide immigrants to the most accurate and current information available.