“What do immigrant kids think of the program?” —Curry College Student This was the final question that was asked of Welcoming Library co-founder Kate Cutko and Executive Director Kirsten Cappy. They were speaking to Kathy McDonough‘s Children’s Literature: Gateway to the World class about the founding of I’m Your Neighbor Books and the Welcoming Library…. Read more »
The Welcoming Library was hosted by Maine’s LearningWorks for five weeks in the summer of 2018 to serve their summer school programming. When the I’m Your Neighbor team went to pick up the collection on the final day of summer school, an educator recounted this story. She was reading the picture book My Friend Jamal… Read more »
Many schools that have hosted the Welcoming Library have reworked the way they study immigration. Ellis Island is now joined by modern immigration from the Sudan, Syria, and Central America thanks to exposure to these picture books and companion materials. “4th grade teachers had the opportunity to look at all the books and choose which… Read more »
Greeley Middle School in Cumberland, Maine built the book display on a cart (brilliant!) to allow the principal to roll the Welcoming Library into a new classroom each morning. “14 classrooms each had the library for a day and teachers gave students dedicated time to browse and read.” —A Welcoming Library School Ambassador
“I heard lots of discussion about what immigration is, personal stories, and ‘wow, I never thought of that…’ Teachers liked the discussions questions very much.” —A Welcoming Library School Ambassador
“One second grade class was so in love with Dreamers that they spent the whole day with it, the teacher found other books to study by Yuyi Morales, and convinced all the other teachers in her grade that I should come and read this book to their class. We had excellent discussions every time!”—Welcoming Library… Read more »
“A fourth grade GT class had been reading Long Walk to Water, and the teacher asked me to share something about Sudan. I read My Name is Sangoel. Students had plenty of thoughtful things to say and were quite concerned about the global refugee crisis. I was able to talk to them about local efforts… Read more »
“I just read Dreamers (Holiday House) to a second grade class. The teacher and students were amazed and inspired by this book. Teacher said it was the best read aloud they had read in a long time. I’ve been reading other stories in different classes, all with very positive feedback. “ —Welcoming Library School Ambassador… Read more »
“Many classrooms had guest readers (parents, teachers, the superintendent).” —Welcoming Library School Ambassador
“Reading in various classrooms was the best part of the experience for me. I was able to share that students in most every class I visited had family members or close friends who were immigrants. We had some great discussions!” —Welcome Library School Ambassador