lien | A Library Celebration: International Mother Language Day

It is often the case that someone’s mother tongue is not the dominant language of the country or region in which they speak. This can pose challenges through life, from greater difficulties at school to problems in finding work or interacting with government later in life.

Today there are around 50 000 people in the Danish minority in Southern Schleswig, Germany, of which between 10 000 and 20 000 have Danish as their mother tongue, and around 9 000 use Danish in their everyday lives.

The Danish Library for Southern Schleswig functions as a hub for the Danish minorities. It is more than just a library, it is also a major regional collection of more than 50.000 books covering every conceivable theme about the area, its countryside, its flora and fauna, and its people and their customs, culture, traditions and language.