By Mary B. Carlson
Medical Librarian
Fairview Southdale Hospital
Edina, MN

I have been the Manager of Library Services at Fairview Southdale Hospital, a 325-bed hospital located in the Twin Cities, for over 20 years. About three years ago I became involved with our hospital’s English as a Second Language (ESL) program aimed at our diverse population of employees–a unique opportunity for a hospital librarian. I was asked to “volunteer” an hour a week to assist the ESL instructor who was using the Library to prepare class handouts, teach computer skills and house materials for the learners. After one semester of assisting the ESL instructor I realized that I was doing something that I enjoyed, working with people.

I had been volunteering all over the Twin Cities in the last several years trying to figure out if I wanted to be in the school system teaching children or in the workplace teaching adults; the ESL program helped me decide. I went back to Hamline University in St. Paul last summer and received my certification in ESL. I then started immediately at the University in the process of obtaining first my ABE (Adult Basic Education) licensure. I am now working on a second master’s at the University of Minnesota.

My current schedule works out nicely. I am taking six online credits, teach ESL at two hospital sites and work four days a week in the Library. I surely would not be able to do this without an extremely supportive staff and the encouragement of the hospital system. The President of our hospital and the Director of Human Resources, to whom I report, are both in agreement that the ESL program has been quite useful for our employees who are learning how to communicate better with their immediate supervisors, bosses and co-workers. To have our employees learn how to communicate better makes lot of sense, and I respect my support team for their cooperation in making this the best hospital for our employees!

I love teaching ESL because I find that meeting people from many different places throughout the world is very enlightening. I just returned from an intensive two-day class in Orlando where I received my certification in accent reduction. One never knows what the future holds. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me at the Library, and I will be happy to answer any questions.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, February 6th, 2007 at 5:26 pm and is filed under News from the Region. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.