I go to the public library a lot. I search for new books for my classroom and for books to read with my own kids. In October 2021, I had a passing conversation with a librarian about world language books. The conversation would eventually lead to a series of literacy events for EL families and a conference presentation in the spring of 2023. In that 2021 meeting, children’s librarian Natacha Luizzi inquired about the languages most spoken at Rick Marcotte Central School in South Burlington, Vermont, where I teach English Language Learners. Our school is right across the parking lot from the library, which is also a short walking distance from an apartment complex where many multilingual students live. That initial conversation between Natacha and me started an ongoing dialogue over the course of a couple of years of my after-school library trips.  

With my English Language Learner families in mind, Natacha and I eventually planned a district-wide family engagement event and then a series of school-centered literacy nights. I hope that our serendipitous experience of becoming partners can be an inspiration for others seeking to collaborate with community organizations. Sometimes you look for partnerships, but other times they find you. 

In the fall of 2022, the South Burlington School District hosted a series of literacy nights with the goals of increasing multilingual families’ access to the public library and creating connections between traditionally marginalized families and the school community. When Bread Loaf offered Change Action Grants under Middlebury College’s Conflict Transformation initiative, I applied for and received funds to support this initiative with the notion that increasing library access for marginalized families was an important system transformation.

During the months of September, October, and November, each of the elementary schools in the district (Rick Marcotte Central School, Chamberlain Elementary, and Orchard School) hosted a family literacy night at the South Burlington Public library. Over a hundred community members accessed these events, the majority of whom had never visited the library before. Sixty-Five adults and 75 children attended, and 51 new library cards were issued across the three event series. 

The literacy nights were planned in collaboration with children’s librarians Natacha Luizzi and Kelly Kendall, the library staff, EL director Carol Blakely, and EL teachers Rochelle McGurn, Jackie Parrott and Lisa Lavoie. In addition to increasing literacy and welcoming families, we had the goal of providing access to library cards for families not fluent in English. In a previous district-wide event in the spring of 2022, we had tried to offer library card sign ups without much success. Form completion and proof of residence were barriers for families. To close these access gaps, the library decided to issue library cards to students who attend district schools with a simple parent signature and a simplified registration form.  Finally, my EL colleagues and I obtained parent permission for library cards prior to the event so when students came to their event, their library cards would be ready to go. The principles of Conflict Transformation guided the re-imagining of library card access. After witnessing the conflict between family needs and procedures in place, our team redesigned the library access policy with the needs of multilingual families in mind.

During the program, families were given a tour of the library, were introduced to the library card system, and were given a chance to ask questions with the help of on-site interpreters. Natacha and I acted in a how-to-use the library role-play to present information in a visually rich way. Families new to the library picked up library cards for their children, checked out books, and brought home dinner and a book to add to their home libraries at the close of the events. Our grant budget covered costs for on-site interpreters, books for children, as well as food from local Somali restaurant, Kismayo Kitchen.

Since the fall programs, our public librarians have reported that multilingual families first introduced to the program in the fall have continued to return to the library. Older students who attended literacy nights have been walking to the library to check out books independently. In my teaching setting, we have seen an ease and comfort with both teachers and families during parent teacher conferences during November 2022 and April 2023.  Conferences can often be stressful for both families and teachers when interpretation is needed for communication. The experience of meeting to celebrate the joy of reading earlier in the year seems to have put all parties more at ease to communicate about students’ learning. 

After presenting at the Vermont Library Association conference “Be the Place: Libraries are for Everyone” on Monday, April 3, 2023, Natacha, Kelly and I have plans to continue our work. Our goal for the 2023-24 school year is to continue to bring families together at the library to increase independent reading and sustain literacy practices in multilingual families. Since I am always in and out of our wonderful public library, I have a feeling that more is in store. This community space is not only a source of books, technology and learning, but also a place for ideas to germinate as people come together.