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International Journal of the Linguistic Association of the Southwest

Abstract

Public libraries provide not only a safe space to access information but to interact with other members of the local community as well. The purpose of my paper is to study communication practices derived from posting messages on analog bulletin boards in Baltimore, Maryland. A few of the questions that guide my exploration are: who uses the bulletin board and how is it structured linguistically? Are Spanish and English used any differently regarding the author and the topic of the message? Does language use align with the demographics of the community?

I collected 488 texts from a total of 36 library branches in Baltimore City (19) and Baltimore County (17). My analysis unveiled three main conclusions: first, most messages are created by the public library itself, which suggests bulletin boards are not a popular means of communication among members of the local community. As previous research shows, this is different from other spaces where bulletin boards are available such as supermarkets or cafes. Second, the use of Spanish is mostly limited to messages that are concerned with social care issues such as employment and job training programs, family support services, housing services, legal assistance, or financial assistance. This appears to reinforce the unfortunate, but widespread opinion, that Spanish is the language of immigration. Access to information about local events and opportunities for social interaction are limited to members of the community who can speak English. Third, the use of bulletin boards is quite homogeneous across library branches, independently of whether a particular branch is located in a neighborhood with a higher population of Spanish speakers.

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