The 2019
American Library Association Conference offered many opportunities to reflect
on diversity, and to find ways to include diverse elements of the US population
in everything we do.
Here is a taste of two of the sessions I attended:
“Muslims in Story”
– Ms. Sadaf Siddique, coauthor of the book Muslims in Story: Expanding
Multicultural Understanding through Children’s and Young Adult Literature,
talked about the intent and the content of the book. This book is a collection
of resources and curated booklists that will help educators expose their
audience to positive images of Muslims.
A powerful way to counter bias is for Muslims (or anybody
else who is the victim of prejudice) to tell their own story through actual
personal experiences. The book’s purpose is to show commonality. It is not so
much about religion. It is about the people and how diverse they are. The books
that the authors included in their booklists have a common quality. They are
culturally authentic and they depict positive images that will make Muslim
children feel proud of being Muslims.
Muslims
in Story includes a thematic framework to use throughout the school year.
Some of the themes featured in the book are: Historical presence of Muslims in
America, Muslim kids and heroes, Fasting traditions among the various Muslims
in the world, Similarities between religions, Respect and tolerance between
people, Knowledge overcomes everything. Each story comes with complete lesson
plans and extra resources.
“Ready to Learn: Public Media and Library
Partnership for Early Science and Literacy Learning” – The “Ready to Learn (RTL)” initiative’s “goal is to promote early
learning and school readiness, with an emphasis on supporting children from
low-income, underserved communities.” PBS (Public Broadcast Service) and their librarian
partners from one library in Kentucky, and the other one in Tennessee shared their
successes and failures in offering the Family Learning Community workshops.
These
workshops are usually divided into 4 weekly sessions, but they can be adjusted
to be a standalone program. Each session is composed of 4 parts:
EAT:
Participants eat a meal together and get to know each other
EXPLORE:
Hands-on explorations and discussions in groups (inter-family connections)
MAKE: Families
work together on their own projects
SHARE:
Participants share their projects with the other families, and give feedback to
each other.
Most programs and resources necessary to set up such workshops are available for free to all educators at PBS Learning Media. The website is a treasure trove of information!
Sylvie Merlier-Rowen
Children's Department, CEN
