(Padriñán, 2019.)

Our readings for the Hyperlinked Environments module contained a 2015 paper from IFLA in which European public libraries spoke on their work with refugees, detailing ways that they’d been helping new community members to feel welcome and to settle into their new nations. Recent conflicts, along with the threat of climate-related disasters, spurred me to look at what sorts of things libraries around the world are currently doing to assist refugees and migrants.

One library that I read about is located in Ireland’s County Laois. This past June, the Rathdowney Library hosted an art exhibition of works created by refugees on the theme of “home”, as part of “Refugee Week”. Rathdowney has become home to both Ukrainian and Brazilian communities recently, and the library has been playing a part in bringing services to these groups. A local official who attended the exhibition’s launch party talked about how welcoming refugees didn’t just benefit the refugees, but it also enriched the entire community by bringing in “diverse perspectives, talents and skills” (Cahill, 2024). The event was sponsored by two outside community organizations and featured music and poetry. Reportedly, “the library was filled with members of all communities expressing their support”. I love that we can be a place where things like this happen.

Similarly, the War Memorial Library – a public library in Lower Hutt, New Zealand – hosted an event to celebrate “Welcoming Week” last month. The city describes Welcoming Week as “an opportunity to roll out the welcoming mat to celebrate the things that unite us” (Hutt City Council, 2024), and I love that libraries are included in doing the welcoming. This particular program was an author talk that featured migrants and former refugees, and promised “a chat on how our host community can play a vital role in creating inclusive spaces for all”.

In its chapter on librarianship in a global society, the professional handbook The Portable MLIS (2017) stresses the importance of cultural fluency: “the ability to listen, learn, exchange ideas, and understand local needs in the global context” (p. 274). Our communities need information professionals who are able to play an understanding and empathetic part as our populations change. One way of doing this is to help our communities to welcome new members, and to assist those people with getting access to the services that they need. Just as important, we can look for ways that our libraries can serve as meeting places for all community members, so that they can get to know and appreciate each other – in all their diversity.

References:

Cahill, H. (2024, June 14). Inspiring art exhibition in Laois Library kicks off International Refugee Week. Laois Live. https://www.leinsterexpress.ie/news/what-s-on/1529608/inspiring-art-exhibition-in-laois-library-kicks-off-international-refugee-week.html

Haycock, K., & Romaniuk, M. (2017). The portable MLIS: Insights from the experts. Libraries Unlimited.

Hutt City Council. (2024, September 6). A big welcome to welcoming week in the Hutt. Hutt City Council. https://www.huttcity.govt.nz/people-and-communities/news/2024/a-big-welcome-to-welcoming-week-in-the-hutt

International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions’s Public Libraries Standing Committee. (2015). Responding! Public libraries and refugees. https://www.ifla.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/assets/public-libraries/publications/library-service-to-refugees.pdf

Padriñán, M. A. (2019). [Close-up shot of keys on a red surface]. Pexels. https://www.pexels.com/photo/close-up-shot-of-keys-on-a-red-surface-2882688/