By Jennifer Trend, Staff Writer
The library contains a vast number of books and book types ranging from fiction to biographies to comics, but what about books in foreign languages? With the Spanish, Japanese and French languages being taught at Fountain Valley High School (FVHS), what about the books written in those languages?
The simple answer is yes, books in foreign languages do exist throughout the Huntington Beach Union High School District (HBUHSD), and one can easily request a book if it is not on site at FVHS’s library. But there aren’t as many books compared to Westminster High School with its higher demand for books due to its larger population.
Currently at FVHS, there are only Japanese and French dictionaries and textbooks available and only a few books at other locations. Meanwhile, Spanish has a wide variety of texts from dictionaries to translated books (from young readers or beginning learners to Young Adult books such as “Harry Potter” or “Twilight”) to English and Spanish versions in one binding, which is no surprise given the popularity of Spanish compared to Japanese or French at school.
In addition, there are also other languages available from Vietnamese to German, so there are no limits as to what language you want to read in.
If you aren’t sure where to find books in a certain language, you can always go to the library catalog found here. If one were to be looking for Spanish books, search up “Spanish language” in the search box and click on “Subject,” which will take you to a list of books in Spanish or relating to the Spanish language. Since the search is by default for FVHS, if you want a wider selection, then change the location to HBUHSD right underneath the search bar.
But a small selection shouldn’t stop or discourage you from reading a book in a different language. You always have the choice of requesting a book from an off site library or asking the library to purchase it. Of course, it will have to go through the district and they will have to see if it is in their budget.
Next time you wish to expand your studies or understanding in a language, visit or hold a request for a book at the FVHS library. Perhaps you’ll find what you’re looking for or find something new to read!
