A local library in Hakusan, Ishikawa Prefecture, offers very little to satisfy the reading needs of long-time resident Marie Shiji.

Among the 270,000 general books in the library, only one is in Portuguese.

“I wish libraries had books I can read in my native language,” said Shiji, a second-generation Japanese-Brazilian.

In many areas of Japan where foreign populations are growing, public libraries still have very few books in non-Japanese languages.

Although moves are being made to increase the number of library books in foreign languages, a lack of awareness and confusion over needs and procedures have hampered the efforts.

“Foreigners do not use the library very much,” the librarian at the Matto library in Hakusan said. “I have no idea how to choose and purchase foreign books.”

Hakusan city had a population of a little more than 110,000 as of the end of March, including 1,632 foreign residents.

Vietnamese made up the largest non-Japanese group in the city, with 765 residents, while the 31 Brazilians were the eighth biggest.

The Matto library has no books in Vietnamese.

The sole Portuguese book found in a stack room is about the culture of Espirito Santo state in southeast Brazil.

Shiji, 55, who has lived in Japan for 27 years, said she used to love reading romance novels.

“But I stopped reading after I came to Japan because it has been very hard to find Portuguese books,” she said.

Her family of five, including her husband of Japanese descent, came to Japan in 1991.

The parents worked at factories in Saitama, Fukushima and Toyama prefectures. After they returned temporarily to Brazil, they moved to Ishikawa Prefecture in 1997.

The couple worked for a machinery manufacturer for nearly 20 years while paying their taxes and obtaining permanent resident visas. They built their house in Hakusan 14 years ago.

The Matto library’s website says in Japanese that residents can request up to five books a year.

When told that she could ask the library to stock certain books, Shiji was surprised, saying, “I didn’t know that.”

The Ishikawa prefectural library and Kanazawa city’s Tamagawa library said they do not know exactly how many foreign language books they have because they do not classify books by language.

The Japan Library Association (JLA) said that public libraries have “a mission and goal” to provide free services to residents to help them expand their knowledge under the freedom to know.

The association also underlines the importance of multicultural services of libraries.

In a nationwide survey conducted by the association five years ago, 1,019 of the 1,182 responding public libraries, or 86 percent, said they have not conducted research on the needs of foreign residents.

The biggest problem, cited by 847 libraries, was that the specific needs of foreign residents in their areas were unclear.

“I recommend that library staff exchange information and ideas with administrative departments that are making efforts to help coexist with foreigners and determine their needs,” said Yasuko Hirata of the JLA who was in charge of the survey. “Library staff should get out of their libraries and mingle in their towns more often.”

Some libraries in areas with many foreign residents are trying to come up with new ideas.

Hamamatsu city’s Chuo library in Shizuoka Prefecture has appealed to foreign residents to use the facility more often.

Many foreign residents of Japanese descent work at auto factories in the city.

In February, library staff at a global fair held in the city promoted an electronic-book program near confectionery and variety shops.

Under the program, library users can borrow about 200 items, including foreign language books and Japanese study materials, online.

“Although 2 percent of the local population have foreign roots, just 1 percent use the library, so we decided to do something outside the library,” said Sanae Suzuki, one of the chief librarians.

At the Oizumi town library in Gunma Prefecture, Japanese classes are held every Saturday. Iwao Misawa, 53, a third-generation Japanese-Brazilian, is a teacher there.

“I would like the local residents to see how hard the foreign students study,” he said.

Misawa arrived at Japan when he was 25 years old. He loved reading and made a bookshelf for a cafe run by his parents in the town. He then started to share his Portuguese books with others.

After he gathered about 200 of those books, he talked with librarians and was allowed to place his books there 20 years ago.

The library’s Portuguese-language section now has 2,000 books, including those donated from residents.

At the entrance of Shinjuku Ward’s Okubo library located in Koreatown in Tokyo, a notice in hiragana characters states: “Closed on Tuesdays from April.”

“Foreigners from more than 120 countries live in the ward, so it is impossible to translate everything for them,” library director Masao Yoneda said. “We finally decided to use easy Japanese for them.”

Half of the 2,300 books in 23 foreign languages at the library are picture books. The library also holds reading sessions for children in foreign languages to give them a chance to use their mother tongues.

If the librarians want to buy Vietnamese books, for example, they show a book list to Vietnamese students at Japanese schools and ask them for requests.

“(Amid the COVID-19 pandemic,) some foreigners are isolated from the community,” Yoneda said. “So our library would like to provide a place where such people can relax.”