“A Rare Opportunity in a Language Class”

This chapter explicates the benefits of engaging students with physical library collections for second language (L2) pedagogy. It discusses three lesson types—speed dating, group gallery walks, and student-to-student presentations—that align with communicative and intercultural learning outcomes universal to L2 courses. In curricula where developing linguistic fluency is a central goal, asking students to work together to analyze material texts can be a highly effective way of catalyzing conversation and writing. Moreover, tactile engagement with physical materials approximates students to distant geographical contexts in embodied ways. When students manipulate objects produced in the places where the target language is spoken, the layers of cultural and linguistic mediation inherent to textbooks and critical editions are stripped away. By providing concrete examples of Spanish and Portuguese instruction at the Latin American Library at Tulane University, this chapter hopes to inspire L2 instructors and librarians to engage students with physical library collections in their own institutions.