My name is Sabine Little, and I am a Lecturer in Languages Education at the University of Sheffield - in my "spare time", I am also the bilingual (German/English) Mum of a bilingual child. In my research, I am looking at how multilingual families experience and engage with their multiple languages, how each family member might have a different attitude or experience. These differing attitudes or experiences have an impact on identity formation, and can ultimately impact on family well-being. I regularly work with families from all sorts of backgrounds, as well as running public engagement events, such as multilingual storytelling (that's where the photo is from). Families again and again tell me how they struggle to access resources, and how important it is to them to see "their" language represented in public spaces.

For the past few weeks, I have been looking for book donations to help create a new multilingual book collection for use by families in Sheffield. Sheffield Libraries have kindly agreed to host the collection as a pilot. People have been very generous, and I am continuing to look for book donations, so if you can help, please, please contact me (s.little@sheffield.ac.uk). Working this way, however, has raised two specific problems:

1. I am receiving offers for books outside of Sheffield, raising issues of postage costs, and

2. Books that are in particular shortage, and for which there is a particular need are, unsurprisingly, not donated as much as books from more easily accessible languages, meaning that I am currently unable to support those families most in need.

This crowdfunding call is aiming to address both these issues. The amount is somewhat arbitrary, because literally every pound raised will make a difference, supporting the shipment of donated books, and plugging language gaps. Therefore, any funds raised at the end of the funding run will go towards the project.

For those who think they may be able to help with books, I am happily accepting all donations of well-maintained children's books (from picture books to teenagers). All languages are welcome, but there is a specific need for the following: Arabic, Urdu, Punjabi, Somali, Bengali, Slovak, Slovak-Romani, Persian/Farsi, Kurdish, Pashto and Turkish.

I will be posting regular updates here and on Twitter (@sabinelittle) about the ongoing project. The more people are aware, the more likely I am not only to increase the funding, but also to reach people who might have book donations, so please share. Thank you so much for your help with providing access to books for Sheffield's multilingual families.