Washington State Library Circulating STEAM Kits

Washington State Library Circulating STEAM Kits

Supported by funding provided by the federal Institute of Museum and Library Services administered by the Library Services and Technology Act, through the Washington State Library, a division of the Office of the Secretary of State.

What is a Welcoming Library?

The Welcoming Library is a pop-up conversation on immigration created by I'm Your Neighbor Books, a nonprofit with the goal of building a stronger America where first-through-third generation Americans truly belong. 

The Welcoming Library is a pop-up community conversation on immigration. That conversation is driven by a collection of acclaimed picture books featuring New Arrival and New American families. Readers of all ages “meet” these families on the page and explore the commonalities of all families with embedded discussion questions and companion programming / education materials. The collection — with its pop-up display unit — packs into a crate and travels between schools, libraries, and community centers in a given region, building an environment of Welcoming and Belonging.

100 % of the Welcoming Library readers surveyed indicated a positive response to immigration with 66.7% saying, “Reading this book reinforced my feeling that immigrants should be welcomed in my community” and with 41.7% saying, “I feel inspired by this book and project to find a way to be actively welcoming in my community.”

What is in the Welcoming Library?

• 29 Acclaimed Picture Books featuring the experiences of modern-day non-European immigrants, refugees, and 1st- through 3rd-generation families.

• Discussion Questions affixed to the back end papers to allow any reader to have an in-depth, informed conversation about commonalities, differences, welcoming, and belonging, regardless of the reader’s experience and comfort with such conversations.

• Pop-up Display Unit with Banner which adapts to any space to both highlight the books and draw attention to the mission. The handmade wooden display disassembles for packing and shipping between locations.

• Crates to move and ship books, the display, and all support materials between your locations.

• Rubber Mallet to assist with bookshelf assembly.

How Might You Use Your Welcoming Library?

• Set up the Welcoming Library in a communal area with chairs for students or families to sit down and explore and read together.
   

• Set up the Welcoming Library in a programming room for people to engage with before, after, or during programs like storytime or book clubs.

• Set up the Welcoming Library in a classroom room for students to engage with during free reading time. 

• Bring the Welcoming Library as a pop-up library to outreach events such as education nights, cultural festivals, after-school events, etc.

• Use the Welcoming Library books in classroom units, library storytimes, or any other way you can imagine!

Outcomes and Goals:

* Start conversations on modern immigration
* Refute false narratives about communities of color
* Create emotional connections to a vast diversity of voices
* Share the joy and strength of immigrant and new generation families
* Build the cultural competency of all readers
* Lay the groundwork for cross-cultural communication

Kits will stay at a library for up to six weeks then they must be sent to the next location. You are welcome to borrow it for between 1-6 weeks!

If you are hoping to send this kit between locations in your district using internal mail and need it for more than six weeks, please email STEAM@sos.wa.gov and we will see if we can accommodate your booking.