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World languages
What languages are available?
Adult fiction books are held at the four town centre libraries
and are refreshed on a regular basis. These books can be reserved
at any library in Medway, or by using the
online catalogue.
- Chatham Community Hub holds books in
Bengali, Chinese, French, Gujarati, Hindi, Polish, Punjabi,
Russian, Tamil and Urdu.
- Hoo
library holds a collection of books in Russian.
- Gillingham Library holds books in Bengali,
Chinese, Czech, Gujarati, Hindi, Polish, Punjabi, Russian,
Slovak and Urdu.
- Rochester Community Hub holds books
in Bulgarian, Hindi, Punjabi and
Russian. Some smaller collections of easy to read "quick
read" titles are also available.
- Strood Library holds books in Hindi,
Punjabi, Russian and Urdu.
- Thomas Aveling school and
community library has a collection of books in Bulgarian.
Dual language books
Children
Most libraries hold children's books with dual languages. The
book will have the story in English and then one other language.
Please ask at your library for information about what languages
they hold.
Dual language books are available through the bookstart
scheme. Details are available on Medway
Libraries' bookstart page.
Adults
Medway Libraries hold some books in dual languages for adults,
with the story in English and then one other language. The
languages available are Hindi, Punjabi, Somali, Spanish and
Urdu. For more information about the titles available, please see
the quick reads
page.
Quick reads in languages other than English
These are held at Rochester Community Hub. Books are held
in Arabic, French, German, Greek, Russian and Spanish. Please
contact staff at Rochester library for more information.
Dictionaries
Dual language dictionaries, dictionaries with English and one
other language, are available in most libraries.
Newspapers
The library holds newspapers in some libraries in Bengali,
Gujarati, Punjabi and Urdu. Access to online newspapers is
available through the library links. Please ask staff for
more information.
Black History month
Every year, Medway Libraries celebrate Black History Month
(BHM) by inviting a speaker or performer in. The libraries
also host a number of children's activities.
Free ESOL classes (English for speakers of other
languages)
Would you like to improve your English for life, work and study
in the UK? If you are not working, want to work and live in the UK
and receive a state benefit you may be eligible for free English
classes.
An ESOL class runs at Chatham Community Hub once a week. This is run
by Medway adult education, during the evening. For more
information contact 01634 338400 or email Ninu.sagar@medway.gov.uk.
Local and community groups
The library holds information about community
groups on the online list of local organisations called
MOLE. Some groups meet in
the library. Please ask staff for more information.
Health information
Information about caring for someone with cancer, for
carers from Asian and Chinese communities is available as
a spoken word CD. This CD is available at Chatham library
in Bengali, Chinese, Gujarati, Hindi, Punjabi and Urdu. It is
produced by the Afiya Trust.
More information about health can be found on the healthy living page
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