DO you know your Turkish from your Taiwanese? They certainly do at Okehampton Library, which attracts devoted readers not just from all over Europe, but from as far afield as Brazil, India, Australia, Thailand and Taiwan. As part of the launch of a new library users? leaflet in 27 languages ranging from Gujarati to Tagalog, a straw poll survey of foreign visitors to Okehampton Library found a ?united nations? of book lovers. Australian and Lithuanian tourists accounted for the most number of visits, with Poles not far behind. All Devon libraries now stock the ?How to use the library? leaflet, which was published in February and staff have been amazed at the takeup from visitors. Head of Devon Library Service Lynn Osborne said: ?I have to confess we were rather surprised at the range of languages identified by the staff as being needed. ?I am delighted to say that they have been proven right,? she said. ?In Okehampton, Polak and Slovak were received with delight,? she added. Devon County Council?s executive member for lifelong learning Cllr Saxon Spence said: ?Despite the overwhelming amount of information technology available in our homes these days, libraries still remain an unshakable focal point where people go when they need information about anything at all. ?It is absolutely right that those for whom English is not their first language find it as easy to access these services as everyone else.? Copies of the leaflet in 27 languages are available to download at: http://www.devon.gov.uk/index/community/">http://www.devon.gov.uk/index/community/ libraries/languages.htm The full list of international visitors to Okehampton Library last summer is: Australia 8 Brazil 2 Bulgaria 1 Czech Republic 2 Denmark 2 France 1 Germany 1 Holland 3 Iceland 1 India 2 Italy 3 Latvia 3 Lithuania 8 New Zealand 1 Poland 7 Portugal 1 Slovakia 2 Spain 1 Sweden 2 Taiwan 1 Thailand 1 USA 4


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