Multi-language support for your website

Attracting new patrons to your OverDrive-powered website is essential for maintaining a successful digital collection.By adding multi-language support to your website, your library can reach a whole new group of users. Previously, patrons who did not speak or read English may have been unable to use your digital collection, but your library can now serve them with a translated interface.   Hundreds of libraries worldwide have enhanced their websites with Spanish, French (Canadian), Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese, or Japanese translations.  More languages will be available later this year and in early 2014, including Russian and Malay.   If your library is not taking advantage of the bilingual (or multilingual) interface, you are missing out on a remarkable opportunity to extend your services to a segment of your community who may have never borrowed an eBook or audiobook.   Katie Norton, Manager of Collections & Information Services at Whitehorse Manningham Regional Library Corporation in Australia, says that her library is unique in that it has a Chinese-speaking population significantly higher than the Australian average. With the Simplified Chinese interface, she's reaching users for the first time, and engaging them in their native language. Does your library have an under-served population that would benefit from this free and easy-to-add feature?   Don't forget that we can help with your marketing endeavors, including resources for reaching this new user base. In our Marketing Kit, we have a variety of promotional materials for your non-English titles. We can also place a graphic on your site to highlight a collection of foreign language materials. Check out Yarra Libraries' "Chinese eBooks" collection for an example.   Yarra Libraries experienced an almost 30% increase in checkouts in the months following the addition of the Simplified Chinese translations.   Maybe you're thinking that your community isn't the type that would benefit from a multilingual site. As Dan from Oil Creek District Library Center in Pennsylvania put it: "I do feel compelled to at least offer it to our patrons, even if it is just to explore!" Why not do the same at your library? It may have a bigger impact than you think—and it's free!   To opt-in for a bilingual or multilingual website, please contact your Account Specialist.   Karen Jakubczak is an Account Specialist at OverDrive.

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