Bilingual public libraries glossary (English/french)

• Collections
• Formats
• Genres
• Dewey decimal classes and subjects
• Library terminology

Collections

English	French
Christmas Collection	La collection sur Noël
Encyclopedias	Encyclopédies (f)
English Language Learning	Apprentissage de l’anglais (m)
Fiction	Romans (m)
French Language Learning	Apprentissage du français (m)
Graphic Novels	Bandes dessinées (f)
Language Learning	Apprentissage des langues (m)
Magazines Current, back issues	Périodiques (m) Numéro courant, numéros antérieurs
Multimedia	Multimédia (m)
Museum Passes	Laissez-passer pour musées (m)
Music	Musique (m)
Non Fiction	Documentaires Non-fiction
Picture Books	Albums (m)
Reference	Référence (f)
Reference Magazines	Périodiques de référence (m)
Special Picture Books	Albums spéciaux (m)
Teen Fiction	Romans pour ados (m)

Formats

English	French
Audio Book	Le livres audio
Board Book	Un albums cartonné
Book on CD	Le livre sur CD
DVD with described video	Le DVD avec vidéodescription
DVD	Le DVD
Early Reader	La première lecture
eBook	Le livre numérique
Large Print	Le livre en gros caractères
Lift-the-flap book	Le livre animé
Multilingual	Multilingue
Newspaper	Le journal (les journaux)
Novel	Le roman
Paperback	Le livre de poche
Video Game	Le jeu vidéo (les jeux vidéo)

Genres

English	French
Blues / R&B / Soul (music)	Blues / R&B / Soul (adj)
Celebration  (music)	Célébration (adj)
Chick Lit	La littérature féminine
Children’s Music	La musique pour enfants
Christian Fiction	Romans chrétiens (m)
Christmas  (music)	Noël (adj)
Christmas fiction	Romans de Noël (m)
Classic novels	Romans classiques (m)
Country (music)	Country (adj)
Crime	Le crime Romans policiers (m)
Dance (music)	Danse (adj)
Educational (music)	Éducative (adj)
Exercise (music)	Exercice (adj)
Fantasy	Le fantastique
Film / TV (music)	Film / TV
Folk (music)	Folk
Hip-Hop / Rap (music)	Hip-Hop / Rap
Historical Romance	La romance historique
Horror	Le roman d’horreur
Jazz (music)	Jazz
Lullaby (music)	La berceuse
Musicals (music)	La comédie musicale
Mystery	Le mystère
New Age (music)	Nouvel-âge
Pop / Rock (music)	Pop / Rock
Reggae / Calypso  (music)	Reggae / Calypso
Romance	Intrigues amoureuses
Science Fiction	La science-fiction
Short Story	La nouvelle
Songs (music)	Chansons
Sounds (music)	Sons
Spiritual (music)	Spirituelle
Steampunk	Steampunk
Western	Le western
World (music)	Mondiale

Dewey classes and subjects

 

English	French
Ancient civilization	La civilisation ancienne
Arts and Recreation	Arts et loisirs
Biography	Une biographie
Computer Science, Information and General Works	Informatique, information et généralités
Cooking	La cuisine
Dictionary	Le dictionnaire
Dinosaurs	Le dinosaure
Ecology	Écologie (f)
Environment	Environnement (m)
Fairy Tales	Un conte de fées
Fitness	Le conditionnement physique
Gardening	Le jardinage
Genealogy	La généalogie
Geography	La géographie
Health	La santé
History	Histoire (f)
Hockey	Hockey (m)
Home & Gardens	Maison et jardin
Insects	Insectes (m)
Medicinal plants	Plantes médicinales (f)
Meditation	La méditation
Mythology	La mythologie
Myths & Legends	Mythes (m) et légendes (f)
Natural Sciences and Mathematics	Sciences naturelles et mathématiques (f)
Numeracy Books	Livres sur la numératie
Nursery Rhymes	Comptines (f)
Parenting	L’art d’être parent / Rôle parental
Philosophy, Parapsychology, Occultism, Psychology	Philosophie, parapsychologie, occultisme, psychologie
Plants	Plantes (f)
Religion	La religion
Snow	La neige
Snow Sports	Sports de neige (m)
Social Sciences	Sciences sociales (f)
Space	L’espace (m)
Sports & games	Sports et jeux (m)
Sugar Bush	Érablière (f)
Technology (Applied Sciences)	Technologie (Sciences appliquées)
Travel	Voyages (m)
Vampires	Vampires (m/f)
War	Guerre (f)
Winter sports	Sports d’hiver (m)
World Languages	Langues du monde (f)
World Wars	Guerres mondiales (f)

Terminology

 

English	French
Accessioning (periodicals)	Bulletinage
Anti-theft	Antivol
Assistive technology	Technologies d’aide
Award Winners	Lauréats de prix
Award Winning Authors	Auteurs lauréats
Bestsellers	Ouvrages à succès
Book return	La boîte de retour
Bookclub	Le groupe de lecture (adults) Le club de lecture (kids)
Branches	Succursales
Canadian Authors	Auteurs canadiens
Catalogue	Catalogue
Catalogue search	Interrogation du catalogue (f)
Cataloguing	Catologage
Christmas non-fiction	Ouvrages généraux de Noël
Circulation desk	Comptoir de prêt
Closed captioned	Sous-titré
Collection	Collection
Computers	Ordinateurs
Concept Picture Books	Livres d’images conceptuelles
Craft(s)	Le bricolage
Customer code of conduct	Le code de conduite des clients Conditions d’accès à la bibliothèque
Database	La base de données
Digital/electronic (adj)	Numérique
English conversation group	Le groupe de conversation en anglais
e-reader	Liseuse e-reader
Fingerplay	Le jeux de doigts
Game night	Soirée de jeux
Holds	Demandes
Homebound	Services à domicile
Homework club	Le club de devoirs
Homework help	Aide aux devoirs (f)
ILS (integrated library system)	Logiciel documentaire SIGB (Système intégré de gestion de bibliothèque)
Information desk	Comptoir de renseignments
Intellectual freedom	La liberté intellectuelle
Inter library loan	Prêt entre bibliothèques
Item (bibliographic) record	La notice bibliographique
Lullabies	Berceuses
Main author	Auteur principal
Materials selection policy	Critères de sélection des documents
Meeting room	Salle d réunion Salle de travail en groupe
New	Nouveautés
New Fiction	Nouveautés – Romans
New For Teens	Nouveautés pour ados
New Non-fiction	Nouveautés – Documentaires
Nursery Rhyme	La comptine
Overdue	En retard
Popular Series	Séries populaires
Pre-literacy activity	Une activité de pré-lecture
Pre-literacy skills	Compétences de prélecture (f)
Pre-loaded (e.g. ereader)	Pré-chargé
Reading Buddies	Copains de lecture Lire ensemble
RFID	RFId
RFID tag	La puce RFID Etiquette électronique – etiquette radio – radio tag
Search engine	Le moteur de recherche
Self- checkout	Poste d’emprunt libre-service Automate de prêt
Service desk	Le comptoir de service
Talking books	Service de livres sonores
Teen Advisory Group	Groupe consultatif d’adolescents
Teen drop-in	Heure d’ados (f)
Teen Zone	Zone des ados
Telephone Books	Annuaires téléphoniques
To scan	Numériser
Toddler	Le tout-petit

 

*Note : many of the French terms were found on this excellent glossary of French library terms put together by the Coopération des centres régionaux de formation aux carriers des bibliothèques in France

 

Local studies at Penrith Public Library

Penrith is a small city on the Cumberland Plain, located in the shadows of the stunning Blue Mountains. Down in the plains, roadside signage is a testament to the harsh environment: at frequent intervals drivers are warned of the daily fire danger rating and informed of the nearest flood evacuation route. Both natural disasters are common occurrences, though far better controlled now than they were in the past. Australia is clearly a tough place, and it’s a wonder to me that their early settlers not only survived, but built a thriving community. Perhaps the hardships explain why the locals value their local history as much as they do…

The Research Room

In addition to offering typical public library services—collections, internet access, programs, etc.—the Penrith Public Library also is home to a truly impressive local studies collection. The Research Room contains a comprehensive collection of materials relating to the region’s people and history. “Comprehensive” means separate collections for local history, photographs, family history, government information, and technical documents relating to the environment and urban planning in the area. The library also several special projects which aim to make their newspaper and historical photos available in a national database maintained by the national library. For a small library system serving a population of just 186,937 residents, this amazing effort has been made possible by the perfect storm of a dedicated individual, political support, and government funding. Starting in the 1980s there was a surge in interest in local and family history. In response the state of New South Wales decided to give political and financial support in these areas at their archives and in public libraries. The state still has many dedicated “local history librarian” positions.

The person responsible for the research room is not a local history librarian, but is a member of the local family history society. She is passionate about helping people connect with the past and preserving all possible local history. A few of the projects she leads are:

Support for history students

A chest belonging to a local who served in the Royal Australian Army Nursing Corps during WWI

Some local students undertake a history project where they study the biography of a local man or woman who served in the First World War. To support these projects, the staff at the library have created profiles for each known local who was part of the war effort, complete with copies of service records, medals, newspaper articles, and, where relevant, a picture of their grave from the Commonwealth War Graves Commission. The next phase of the project will be to make the contents available online where links can take the students from the written summary directly to the source information.

Digitizing The Nepean Times

The archives of the Nepean Times gets pride of place in the Research Room

When it was clear that the Australian Newspapers Digitisation Program would not get around to digitizing Penrith’s local paper for many years, the library decided to fund the project itself. Once all eighty years of the paper had been scanned, the files were made available on Trove, the National Library of Australia online resource portal. Not satisfied with this progress, the library has organized volunteers to read through the digitized versions line by line to correct the text created by OCR (character recognition) software.

Local photo history

One more project relying on volunteer hours is the photo archives. The library is digitizing historical photos as the budget permits, while volunteers catalogue them according to an in-house system. The pictures are currently available in binders in the library and on the council website in a section called Penrith in Pictures. They will eventually also be available on Trove, which provides a more advanced database and a far larger audience than a small public library system could supply.

A picture of the Old Council Chambers from the Penrith in Pictures database

The new Penrith Civic Centre

Vleuten Public Library

I felt fortunate to be able to visit Vleuten Public Library this September because it was very nearly closed last year. It was only saved by strong community support and a willingness to compromise on the part of the public and the library system.

Some context

Historically an independent village, Vleuten became a suburb of the city of Utrecht in 2001.  Although the former village maintained its own library for about a decade, their branch was recently put on the municipal chopping-block with the understanding that local residents would be able to use the newer and much larger branch in a neighbouring suburb.  However, the local decision makers soon discovered that they had underestimated community support. When the dust settled, the library was spared from closure BUT would no longer operate as a regular branch. What changed?

The compromise

Under the new system…

• The branch was moved from its own designated building to a new, smaller space within the local municipal service centre
• Its staff was cut to one part-timer
• It lost 40% of its collection
• It was forced to stop offering periodicals and public computer access
• The opening hours were substantially extended

The library was able to extend its opening hours despite the other cuts because it moved to a new model of library management. The new system relies heavily on volunteers and technology to perform tasks which have traditionally required a trained staff member.

The library now occupies this corner of the local Wijkservicecentrum

At the time of my visit the volunteer was an out-of-work library technician with experience in special libraries. She explained that volunteers perform many key duties in the library, such as shelving, answering questions from the public, and offering assistance with self checkout. The part-time paid library staff member works three afternoons per week. Only she is able to issue new cards, pull holds from the shelves and offer programs.

While it was wonderful to hear about the community’s response to the library closure, I find myself unable to see the town’s solution in a solely positive light. It was particularly difficult to hear from a job seeker that this experimental model is being watched by municipal authorities who hope to make similar changes in other locales. Although the dedication of the Vleuten library volunteers is stirring, I can’t help but agree with the New Zealand Library and Information Association’s Statement on Voluntary Workers
– the best quality of library services is achieved through the use of paid and trained staff.

Amsterdam Public Library main branch children’s section

The Amsterdam main branch is the largest public library in Europe, occupying a beautiful ten story building next to the central train station. Officially opened in July 2007, it offers several innovations, including a radio station and children’s section which uses a unique designed-by-kids classification system.

The children’s section is one story below the main entrance, but the ceiling is nearly three stories tall as it opens through the periodical section and the main floor. The open construction gives a feeling of space and makes it easy to find from the main entrance. What surprised me about this design is how little noise traveled up from the children’s section into the adult areas.

Classification

Overhead view of shelving in the children’s area

The open-concept layout showcases the unique design of the bookshelves. The shelves are all partial circles with the book spines facing inwards. While the shelves have the added benefit of creating an inviting, private reading area, this distinctive layout was chosen for more than the aesthetics; the semi-circles each represents a subject area in the the Library of 100 Talents classification system.

The system

The 100 Talents system, unique to the Netherlands, is based on the Reggio Emilia educational philosophy which views children as “beautiful, powerful, competent, creative, curious, and full of potential and ambitious desires.”¹ Drawing on this idea of the child as a rational and capable actor within the library setting, the Dutch library association invited children to help create a unique classification system and to design an ideal library. The resulting system is used to classify materials for young adults and for children aged 7 and above. The subject areas are broad, with abstract titles such as “Me in the World”, “Adventure”, “Going Outside” and “Dreams.” These large categories are then subdivided into smaller topics. For example, a subdivision of “Me in the World” is “Me and You,” which covers topics like religion, sociology, and the human body.

Shelf organization

In each sub-section the books are ordered in the same way: first the non-fiction by SISO (Dutch equivalent of DDC) number, followed by fiction in alphabetical order, and finally all other formats including audiobooks, DVDs, and magazines.
The proximity of fiction and non-fiction works is designed to encourage children to discover more about topics that interest them, without requiring them to search in the catalogue and to look in several different physical locations. According to a Youth Librarian working in the department, children are easily able to use the system while adults, more accustomed to separate fiction and non-fiction sections, do not pick it up as quickly.

It seems to me that the main strength of this system is that it groups all materials on the same topic together while still using traditional notation (DDC and authors last name) for shelf organization. This greatly reduces the need for updates, as only new DDC numbers need to be added to the schedules, rather than every individual item. In addition, using traditional notation should allow users to easily switch between the 100 Talents organization and the traditional organization in other libraries. I was unable to find any further English language information on this topic, but it would certainly be an interesting study to see how easily children accustomed to the 100 Talents organization are able to find materials in a traditional library.

Final thoughts

The centre bookshelf has a rooftop reading nook!

Overhead view of shelving in the children’s area

Clever shelf labels in the comic book section

“Me in the word” includes boks about sports, religion, sociology and the human body, among other topics. Vertical shelf labels are typical in Dutch public libraries.

The storytime area employs the same colour scheme as the rest of the library

As you might have noticed in the image gallery above, the colour scheme in the children’s section is quite adult when compared to the primary-colour inspired designs popular in North American children’s spaces. In fact, the colours in the children’s area (red and white with natural wood) are exactly the same as is used in the rest of the library, although some kid-centered decorative accents have been added.
Finally, I think it’s important to mention that the Amsterdam central branch is beautiful and massive library, covering 28,000 m². Within the library there is a theatre that seats 250, a radio station, conference rooms, exhibition space, a music department, study pods, and a truly excellent rooftop café which provides a sweeping view of the city. If you ever visit Amsterdam, it’s well worth a visit- and is easy to find since it is a ten story buildilng next to the central train station.

1. Hewett, V.M. (2001). Examining the Reggio Emilia approach to early childhood education. Early Childhood Education Journal, 29(2), 95-100.

I would like to thank Ms. Skotarczak, Youth Librarian at the Amsterdam OBA, for her help in explaining the classification system.