The Immigrant and Refugee Experience

I can't claim to know what being an immigrant or refugee is like. I don't have that experience--and I feel fortunate to live in a safe and stable country. However, my students come from various backgrounds, so I'm always looking for the opportunity to learn more about them, as well as provide resources for their use and to help their peers empathize with their experiences. I wanted to look at what their lives might be like had they not come to the United States, so I spoke with our ESL teacher and looked up photos of the cities they hailed from prior to the upheaval that brought them to us. I tried to imagine what it would be like to raise my children in a region at war. It seemed unreal . . . picture after picture showed cities in ruin with buildings reduced to rubble.

Reuters file photo of Daraa Syria

As the events of this weekend unfolded, with the new president signing an executive order to halt immigration from certain countries, I thought about what libraries can do to welcome children and families as they establish themselves in new communities. At the request of my curriculum director, I created a book list that identifies books that support the immigrant and refugee experience and added it to my Destiny home page. Though the list is certainly not comprehensive, it provides students a place to start and challenges me to find additional resources as I continue to purchase new books.

In addition, I'm working on ways to add books in different languages to our collection. We have always had books in Spanish--popular novels that students are reading in English, as well as some options of classics and basic nonfiction texts that support curricular areas. However, I have not purchased books in Arabic or any African languages. The ESL teacher has written a grant to purchase some books and I plan to follow up with her to find out how that has worked out and what resources I might add to support her program. I'm also following We Need Diverse Books through social media and their blog to learn more about resources to support learning about diversity and seeing oneself in books.


It's an ongoing process that will likely change as events within our country unfold. What have you done in your library to support immigrants and refugees?