commented: “[…] the hostile environ- ment that prevails in the UK is rooted in a much larger legal and policy frame- work, including beyond the narrow con- fines of immigration law. Furthermore, this hostile environment applies not only to irregular immigrants, but to racial and ethnic minority individuals with regular status, and many who are British citizens and have been entitled to this citizenship as far back as the colonial era.” Despite these barriers, we must also acknowledge the positive welcome that people seeking sanctuary have been offered in the UK – just one example: “Scotland has a long history of welcoming those fleeing conflict and persecution. Those fleeing conflicts in Vietnam, Kosovo, Bosnia, and the Democratic Republic of Congo have all built new lives in Scot- land in recent decades.” (Christie and Baillot, 20203
).
What can libraries do? We identified that libraries:
l Provide a warm welcome
l Signpost people to local services and help them settle into a new area l Provide access to email and the internet
l Provide a range of books and other resources
l Provide space for people to meet (and for classes such as ESOL to take place)
l Provide a safe space.
In recognition of the role that public libraries play, there is a growing number that have been awarded Library of Sanctu- ary status by the City of Sanctuary move- ment, including, recently, Bolton, Kirklees, Manchester, Newcastle, and Oldham. There are more in the pipeline!
Other types of library and information services
Much of the focus so far has been on pub- lic libraries, but we know that other types of library and information service also support new arrivals. I have been com- missioned by Facet Publishing to write the first in a new series looking at libraries and social justice, and this first title will be Libraries and Sanctuary: supporting refugees and other new arrivals. I am keen to gather examples from other than public libraries, and look forward to hear- ing from you!
What have libraries elsewhere offered in terms of a welcome?
Toronto
At the Conference, we gained glimpses of work being developed in other coun-
tries, and, for me, the most exciting was that described by Vickery Bowles (City Librarian, Toronto Public Library). Vickery has kindly shared her presenta- tion and speaking notes with me, from which this section is taken.
In terms of background, Canada has one of the highest immigration rates per capita in the world. The federal government has established an immigration target of 400,000 immigrants for 2021, just over one per cent of Canada’s total population of 38 million. Not surprisingly, many im- migrants settle in large urban areas such as Toronto. In 2019, 118,000 immigrants settled in Toronto, about 35 per cent of the total immigrants to Canada that year. In terms of Toronto Public Library [TPL], as well as the ‘usual’ range of services, they offer support for settlement; language acquisition; education; employ- ment and skills upgrading; and belonging and engagement – these are backed by the federally-funded Library Settlement Partnerships which support settlement workers in 14 library branches serving a high concentration of newcomers. In terms of ‘usual’ services, TPL provides
materials in a wide range of languages (with increased provision in Arabic and Armenian); they run courses, clubs and programmes targeted towards new
October-November 2021
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