Alongside the other multicultural services that Council offers, Willoughby Library has the biggest Community Languages collection in the Northern suburbs, with twelve different languages to cater to the needs of our community and to encourage the retention of cultural heritage.
These languages are Armenian, 
Chinese, Croatian, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Persian, Polish, Spanish and Vietnamese.
There are books, magazines, newspapers and audio-visual materials. If you are looking for a language that we don’t maintain here, then bulk loans from the State Library of New South Wales can be arranged. You can access newspapers from around the world and visit websites in your language through the Internet.
Alongside the normal database there is BIMS, which provides the catalogue of items in Chinese. All Chinese language publications can be found using this catalogue. Using BIMS you can search in English, in pinyin, and by writing the Chinese original script on a sensitive input pad. The catalogue displays the location of the item and whether it is on loan or not. A description of other library services is available in Chinese, Japanese, Korean.
If you would like to improve your English, there are graded readers and English as a Second Language (ESL) kits with videos, CDs, cassettes and CDROMs. There are also four ESL computers at the library that have English-learning programs for all levels of learning. A brochure on Learning English in Willoughby - 949 KB is available.
There are also English Conversation Groups on Monday and Friday mornings during school term at the Chatswood library. These classes are very popular, so you need to contact the library staff to enrol in person, by phoning 9777 7900, or by emailing library@willoughby.nsw.gov.au.
If you would like to learn a language other than English, there are language kits in sixty-one different languages. These contain CDs, cassettes, videos and CDROMs, and are best supplemented by the Community Language collection.
In order to support multiculturalism in our community, Carnivale and Chinese New Year ( English Version - 955 KB) ( Chineses Version - 1,029 KB) celebrations are held in the library every year, including displays and activities.
To find out more about multicultural services at Willoughby Library and how staff can meet your needs, call 9777 7790 or email library@willoughby.nsw.gov.au. You can have a tour as an individual or as part of a group.