Libraries and leisure

Help for people whose first language is not English

Interpretation support

• All staff working in libraries have access to the telephone interpreting service Language Line to help you if you have difficulty speaking English. The service can provide an interpreter in over 150 languages
• Joining the library is free. We want to make it as easy as possible for everybody to make full use of all our services. A translated version of the membership form is available in Arabic, Bengali, Cantonese, Czech, Gujarati, Italian, Japanese, Panjabi, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, Slovak, Tamil, Turkish and Urdu at all libraries

Learning English
There are collections to help you study or improve your English at Bishop's Stortford, Borehamwood, Cheshunt, Harpenden, Hatfield, Hemel Hempstead, Hitchin, Hoddesdon, Letchworth, North Watford, Oxhey, Royston (pilot), St Albans, Stevenage, Waltham Cross (mini), Watford and Welwyn Garden City libraries. They include:

• English language course material including CDs and cassettes
• Books on grammar, pronunciation and a good range of dictionaries, including photo dictionaries
• Easy fiction to get you started with reading English

The material that we have is linked to the most common exams that English language students take:

• KET Key English Test
• PET Preliminary English Test
• FCE First Certificate in English
• CELS Certificates in English Language
• IELTS International English Language Testing System

If you have difficulty in reading English, talking books and mixed media packs are free and you will not have to pay to reserve Hertfordshire stock. Click on the Library concessions link on the right for full details.

We can provide information on learning English and how to find language courses. For local information, click on the English language colleges and tutors link on the right.

For general information on learning in libraries, click on the Learning in libraries link to the right.