Mango Languages for HPL
Donation protected
My name is Carol Williams, and I am the Treasurer and a Board Member of the Hammond Public Library Foundation. The Foundation is a nonprofit organization whose purpose is to help support the Hammond Public Library in Hammond, Indiana. We're a very new organization and this is our first fundraising effort. Our goal is to raise enough funds to provide the library and all it's card holders with a subscription to the Mango Language Database.
At the 2010 Census, the City of Hammond, Indiana had a population of roughly 80,000 people, making it the largest city in Lake County, Indiana. Also according to the US Census Bureau, approximately 24% of Hammond’s population speaks Spanish in their homes. And of those households, 37% of them speak English less than “very well.” So not only are a large portion of Hammond residents at a disadvantage by not being fluent in English, this also puts neighbors, business owners, teachers, law enforcement and others at a disadvantage when trying to communicate with their neighbor, customers or those in need.
Besides Spanish, the Census reports that there are other languages being spoken in Hammond homes—French, German, Greek, Polish, Croatian, Chinese, Japanese, and Vietnamese just to name a few. The Library tries its best to obtain material in both print and audio format. However, there is a limit to the amount of material readily available for purchase and a limit to the amount that can be spent on the varieties of languages that are spoken by area residents.
A database subscription can vary immensely from one to the next. Some have annual subscription costs and some also have annual platform fees, and others have both those plus the extra costs to include specific titles or components. The cost of a set of CDs may be anywhere between $20 to $200, a book could cost $10 to $50, while a single database annual subscription could start at $4,000 a year or be as high as $15,000 per year, depending on the content. When selecting the most material for the money, most libraries will elect to purchase with a diverse amount of physical titles compared to one single database that meets one specific need.
The Mango Language database subscriptions offer 62 different foreign language courses and 17 English as Second Language courses. They offer multiple content learning opportunities, such as audio, verbal repetition, and international language films. For library card holders, the content is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week and access is unlimited. Patron usage is also unlimited, meaning that if one, 100 or 1,000 patrons all wanted to take the beginning Spanish course at the same time, they could. Material is available to patrons through any computer, tablet or smartphone. Each person creates a unique account that tracks their own progress.
The HPL Foundation's goal is two-fold. The first goal is to raise enough money to begin an annual subscription for the library. This goal is $5,000. Once this goal is met, we will continue toward the second goal of a total of $20,000 to guaranteed the Library a lifetime subscription. This means that as long as both the Library and Mango are both in business, the Library and its patrons would continue to have up-to-date access forever, without any additional subscription fees!
We really want to help the Library bring this language learning material to the community, and with your help, we can do it!
Visit our Facebook page: www.facebook.com/hplfoundation
At the 2010 Census, the City of Hammond, Indiana had a population of roughly 80,000 people, making it the largest city in Lake County, Indiana. Also according to the US Census Bureau, approximately 24% of Hammond’s population speaks Spanish in their homes. And of those households, 37% of them speak English less than “very well.” So not only are a large portion of Hammond residents at a disadvantage by not being fluent in English, this also puts neighbors, business owners, teachers, law enforcement and others at a disadvantage when trying to communicate with their neighbor, customers or those in need.
Besides Spanish, the Census reports that there are other languages being spoken in Hammond homes—French, German, Greek, Polish, Croatian, Chinese, Japanese, and Vietnamese just to name a few. The Library tries its best to obtain material in both print and audio format. However, there is a limit to the amount of material readily available for purchase and a limit to the amount that can be spent on the varieties of languages that are spoken by area residents.
A database subscription can vary immensely from one to the next. Some have annual subscription costs and some also have annual platform fees, and others have both those plus the extra costs to include specific titles or components. The cost of a set of CDs may be anywhere between $20 to $200, a book could cost $10 to $50, while a single database annual subscription could start at $4,000 a year or be as high as $15,000 per year, depending on the content. When selecting the most material for the money, most libraries will elect to purchase with a diverse amount of physical titles compared to one single database that meets one specific need.
The Mango Language database subscriptions offer 62 different foreign language courses and 17 English as Second Language courses. They offer multiple content learning opportunities, such as audio, verbal repetition, and international language films. For library card holders, the content is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week and access is unlimited. Patron usage is also unlimited, meaning that if one, 100 or 1,000 patrons all wanted to take the beginning Spanish course at the same time, they could. Material is available to patrons through any computer, tablet or smartphone. Each person creates a unique account that tracks their own progress.
The HPL Foundation's goal is two-fold. The first goal is to raise enough money to begin an annual subscription for the library. This goal is $5,000. Once this goal is met, we will continue toward the second goal of a total of $20,000 to guaranteed the Library a lifetime subscription. This means that as long as both the Library and Mango are both in business, the Library and its patrons would continue to have up-to-date access forever, without any additional subscription fees!
We really want to help the Library bring this language learning material to the community, and with your help, we can do it!
Visit our Facebook page: www.facebook.com/hplfoundation
Organizer
Carol Williams
Organizer
Hammond, IN
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