“I feel like I’m at a Star Trek convention,” he said in his trademark baritone, before laughing heartily. Takei’s tone changed, however, as he began to describe a childhood spent in internment camps for Japanese Americans during World War II—an experience that he details in his new YA graphic novel, They Called Us Enemy. With a … Continue reading History Repeats Itself
Diana Moronta, instruction and technology librarian at New York Institute of Technology, said that she often reminds herself to step back as an instructor and elevate the voices of her students. “I believe they are experts in their own lives,” she said. Tracy Drake, an archivist with Chicago Public Library, said she tries to let … Continue reading Social Unrest, Democracy, and Librarianship in the 21st Century
Exile is one of several themes Talusan explores in her memoir The Body Papers, winner of the Restless Books Prize for New Immigrant Writing. She and Nathan Rostron, editor and marketing director of Restless Books—an imprint dedicated to international authors writing in English—participated in a June 22 panel discussion on the challenges faced by immigrant … Continue reading Expression in Exile
ALA’s Public Programs Office recently completed the New Americans Library Project, a year-long exploration of public library programs and services that support immigrant and refugee populations. Librarians and representatives from community partner organizations involved in the project shared lessons and recommendations in a session on June 22, with a focus on models for effective partnerships. … Continue reading Coming to America’s Libraries
You spent much of your childhood in the Humboldt Park neighborhood of Chicago. Did you visit the library there? Yes, it had the advantage of being across from a park, in a neighborhood that had shops and candy stores. So there was a ritual: You’d go to the library, and then on the way back, … Continue reading Newsmaker: Sandra Cisneros
“I am a refugee—present tense,” Nguyen said. “Although long ago I made the transition from refugee to bourgeoisie, I claim present tense because my earliest memories began as a refugee when I was 4 years old.” Put into an internment camp at Fort Indiantown Gap, Pennsylvania, Nguyen was soon separated from his parents and older … Continue reading The Refugee Experience
At “Engaging and Serving Black Immigrant Communities,” a September 28 session at the third National Joint Conference of Librarians of Color in Albuquerque, New Mexico, Ana Ndumu, PhD postdoctoral researcher at University of Maryland iSchool, presented her findings on the obstacles black immigrants face in accessing information and what libraries can better do to reach … Continue reading Serving Black Immigrants
The comments submitted by the coalition elaborate on the harm that would result from adding such a question to the 2020 Census, including diminished data accuracy, an increased burden of information collection, and an added cost to taxpayers. The submission also points to the US Census Bureau’s own January 19 technical review, in which Associate … Continue reading ALA Urges Commerce Department to Reject Census Citizenship Question
All of the panelists said the need for services to immigrants has been increasing, both for traditional library work—collection development in multiple languages and English classes—and for services that focus on civil rights, civic engagement, and social justice. Eva Raison, coordinator of immigrant services at Brooklyn Public Library (BPL), said BPL has added two full-time … Continue reading Serving Immigrants and Refugees in Public Libraries
You share some intensely personal experiences in Homecoming King about being the child of an immigrant. Was it hard deciding what to codify into comedy? In a comedy special you have only 70 minutes, so a lot of times you’re working with coffee and you need to boil it down to comedy espresso. I’m trying to … Continue reading Newsmaker: Hasan Minhaj
Islandborn is your first book for kids. What was its inspiration? There were multiple inspirations. A lot of it was being a writer with godchildren, nephews, and nieces always saying, “Hey, will you write us a story?” And knowing that I should write them a story, because when I was growing up a kid of … Continue reading Newsmaker: Junot Díaz
In California, more than 565,000 Spanish-speaking adults cannot read or write in any language, according to the 2010–2012 American Community Survey. This affects their ability to learn English, to support their children’s education, and to advance in the workplace. It often leaves them feeling vulnerable and isolated. In 2015, the James Irvine Foundation funded an … Continue reading Learning Spanish First
