Diversity Discussions: (Inter)Cultural Programming at the Library, by Jayla

About two weeks ago I had the privilege of attending a training session on Diversity and Outreach. The presenters of the program are the duo behind the edutainment team, Crisscross Mango Sauce. I thoroughly enjoyed the information that the ladies shared with us. One of the things that stuck with me as I was leaving the session deals with how libraries should incorporate intercultural, not multicultural, programs into our libraries.

You may be wondering what the difference between intercultural and multicultural is.  In a nutshell, multicultural programs are those programs that bring a person of another culture in, but we don’t exchange information. There may be dialog from the presenter, but there isn’t an interaction between groups. As librarians, we should be providing teens with well-rounded cultural experiences. Intercultural programs allow for that exchange to happen.

An exercise the Crisscross Mango Sauce duo asked us to complete sums up my explanation very well. All training participants were asked to break into pairs and, for five minutes, we discussed the prompt, “How did you mother show you…?” The prompt topics included things like beauty, affection, trust, and knowledge. Despite almost all of us having been born into the American culture, we all held so many different ideas of these common topics. Our experiences were all different, but a few pairings shared similar ideals. It was very eye opening and, in five minutes, I learned a lot about people I’d never even met before!

Libraries are diverse populations already. People from different nationalities and ethnicities come into our buildings to find information. Why not use those people as sources of information? You may not use them for your program, but more than likely they know who the cultural leaders are in the community. The most important thing about intercultural programming, any programming really, is to bring people from outside of the library, into the library. I can guarantee you that within your community, there is a group that includes some culture drastically different from your own. Use them! Pick their brain!

One of my co-workers put together a fabulous Spanish-English story time, complete with piñata, jarabe (or the “Mexican Hat Dance”), and duo-language story time. And, get this; she didn’t have to plan ANYTHING! Of course my co-worker conversed with the presenter and they talked about some things she would need to include in the program. But, for the most part, the outsider presenter was the one who ran the program.  

Often times the focus for diversity is spotlighted on younger children. For example, the American Library Association has a wonderful initiative called El Dia de los Niños (dia.ala.org), Dia for short, which celebrates cultural diversity among children. Dia, Diversity in Action, is geared towards children, but I see no reason that teens can’t be a part of that mix as well. It is just as important for teens to realize the wonderful things they can learn from someone not like them. 

If you are doing cultural programming in your library, what are some of the resources you use? Are they internal (patrons) or external (business, community centers, etc.)?

List some of the cultural (past, present, and future) programs that take place in your library! What was the response? From teens? From presenters?  Let’s discuss in the comments.

Jayla