Prac·ti·cum: a practical section of a course of study.
This summer I’ve been doing a practicum at the Evanston
Public Library. I’m there one day a week, and most of that time is spent
observing or participating in the library’s various summer programs for
children and teens. Last week I had the opportunity to jump in a bit and help.
I began the day by reading a book about vegetables to a
room full of 40 toddlers and their caregivers. It was fun, and I can totally
imagine myself running a program like this in the future. It combines the right
amount of creativity, management, and children-adult interaction that gets me excited
for my future as a children’s librarian. But what really got me excited
happened later in the day. In two different instances, I encountered children who
probably wouldn’t be in the library except for the organizations and programs
that brought them there– programs known for supporting library-use and summer reading.
First the Evanston YMCA and Y.O.U. summer camp brought in
a couple dozen kids for a drop-in craft time. It was chaos, but in the most
perfect way. The kids were engaging with the activity, asking for help, and
trying with all their might to create a beautiful coffee-filter butterflies. As
I jumped around instructing and assisting, my hands became messy with colorful
marker residue, but this momentary interaction with each child was a genuine
way to show mutual respect, care, and responsibility.
A few hours later, the Evanston YMCA and Y.O.U. (this
time in conjunction with a summer reading initiative sponsored by a Evanston foundation
formed in the memory of a local boy who was tragically killed in 2013) brought
about 60 kids to hear this year’s Newbery award winning author Kwame Alexander
talk about his new book, “Crossover.” Honestly, I don’t think I’ll be able to
get into the book, it’s written in verse and is a little hard to follow. But
it is a very timely – a quintessential book of the contemporary African
American youth experience. As Kwame was talking about the book and the process
of writing in general, he said he didn’t set out to change the world when he
wrote the book (a few dozen versions, actually, before he was able to get it
published), but now that he is seeing its impact, he is taking the message and
running with it. “The world needs to know what there are black boys like this,”
he said.
Kwame is an effective champion of reading, creativity, poetry,
and the diverse human experience. His message that day focused on the
importance of saying YES in the face of adversity, and it was very clear that
he wants both girls and boys to enjoy reading. I was astonished to see young
boys and girls of every color engaged in what he was saying and actually asked
questions about the book. They related to it, and they related to him, who
spoke both candidly and at their level. It was beautiful.
When it comes to issued of equality and rights, I am often
a quiet advocate, not feeling the need to raise my voice very loudly, and also
not knowing when it’s the best time to jump in. But days like this make me want
to tell everyone I know about the small ways lives are being impacted by the
power of books. The group of people in that room were as diverse as they come,
both in skin color, socio-economic background, and education, but the fact that
they were all brought together through the commonality of reading is a really
encouraging thing to see. There’s that saying that it “takes a village to raise
a child,” well, I was seeing an example of a community clearly coming together for
the betterment of its young people.
When I first moved to Rogers Park I helped out a lot with
my church’s youth group. It was a group made up of neighborhood elementary and middle schoolers. I got to
know kids I would have never met before. And I learned a lot about how issues
of race and socio-economic status effect the kids in this neighborhood. That
group of kids no longer exists within the four walls of our church, but my
heart still breaks for those kids and their daily struggles. So many are effected
by broken homes and gang violence. So, to see a group of kids, only a few miles
north of Rogers Park, with so much support and encouragement, it makes me want
to take part again – but this time as a librarian.
