Immigrant/Refugee Library Programs in light of El Paso
August 6, 2019 10:28 AM   Subscribe

I'm the programming librarian for a midsize public library and we host a number of programs for immigrants, refugees, and new Americans with more in the planning stages. In light of the events in El Paso, how can we create a safe, welcoming space for our patrons, while also minimizing the risks of drawing attention from white nationalists and other such groups?

I'm looking for best practices or techniques surrounding all aspects of this issue including marketing, (can we target the populations we want to attend while not advertising the programs to the public as a whole?), program setup, room use, and even ways to keep ICE from seeing these programs as an opportunity? How can we communicate to our patrons that we're taking these measures to make them feel welcome and safe?

Any advice, resources, or referrals you can provide would be much appreciated.
posted by holmesian to Society & Culture (3 answers total) 6 users marked this as a favorite
 
Best answer: Generally speaking the best defense is a good offense. Having policies in place BEFORE you have to deal with ICE or Nazis trying to use your meeting room is a great start and usually less controversial (with the board or whomever) if there's not an active conflict. Think about some things that libraries have been doing (Drag Queen Story Hour is a good example) and ways you could make sure that your policies support programming like this and also give people a channel for complaints that is official so they don't just bitch and you're like "Uhhh we think this is a good idea" Jason Griffey had a long worthwhile post on this topic: Plan, Prepare, Act. Rights During Raids is a very good resource he points to.

Two resources I really appreciate are

1. Urban Libraries Unite's Refugee Libraries resource - lots of resources that can help all sorts of patrons including refugees. So like you could print out come copies of "Police Encounters for Non-Citizens" and make them avaiable to people.
2. Affirmative Messaging. These posters are free and welcoming. These posters send a clear message. (and the same ones about being inclusive to GLBTQ in both word and deed (gender neutral bethrooms!) and having multilingual signage for your language populations). These "What to do if ICE shows up" handouts

By and large White Nationalists haven't been going in to libraries to fuck things up. Except in certain areas where they are emboldened by numbers, they are cowards. But! They do try to reserve meeting rooms and push the envelope on public accomodations which is why it's a good idea to have a policy about who you let use the room. And you don't have to say "No Nazis" you can just have other language that makes it clear that people can't use the room tp foment hate or whatever (there are good examples online).

And then look to good examples of library pgroamming. I like this essay Everyone is Welcome: How a Minnesota Library is Reaching Its Somali Residents as a good, positive example. Good luck, this work is worth doing.
posted by jessamyn at 10:57 AM on August 6, 2019 [21 favorites]


I can’t speak to the ICE concern, but 1) have a code of conduct for your events and 2) partner with existing organizations who already do this work and support them. They will have advice as to what to do.

Well-intentioned groups who are not partnering with existing organizations, maybe shouldn’t be holding these programs, as it means that they might not have the capacity or network to hold these issues with care and to invite people.

Or more optimistically, you can uplift and support organizations and other voices at an organizational level. Follow their lead!
posted by many more sunsets at 10:57 AM on August 6, 2019


There was a really great session on this at ALA in 2018.

Denver started a plaza program at ten branches. The program is composed of English conversation tables, citizenship help, and arts & crafts. The program takes place Monday through Saturday in evening hours and the library has hired 35 bilingual staff who are specifically devoted to this program. They don’t have other tasks. To hire for these positions they reach out to refugee resettlement communities. Program leaders move up within the library.

Los Angeles has a similar program tied to the New American Initiative.
They have study materials for citizenship and handouts on citizenship at a welcome station. They work hard to help people get to a level of comfort where they can ask questions. LA also has onsite services for people filling out naturalization forms, as well as one on one job and homeless services.

NYPL categorizes their immigration services into four areas:
Education- ESOL classes (13k enrollees), English conversation groups, LEAD for immigrant women
Citizenship Prep- with the Immigrant Justice Corps
Community Services- IDNYC, single stop program where people can also enroll in benefits
Branch Programming- locally based to serve individual communities

Houston created a program called The Living Room @ Your Library
The goal was to make the library a gathering place. It’s a three part program.
A main topic
A community discussion
Coffee & tea, food and dessert
This builds understanding between communities. A popular living room they hosted was “meet your refugee neighbors” which was very relevant to provide voters a fuller look about what it means to be a refugee. There were tables out and an open mic where people could share their stories. At the beginning of the program, people were a little shy but by the end there was a line for the mic. People became more at home.

BklynPL wanted to build an opportunity for civil engagement and legal justice. This involves:
-A citizenship prep group (USCIS provides free materials)
-New American corners in all libraries.
-2 full time legal fellows four days a week to help with legal issues.
-a hotline staff could call, ask questions, and make appointments
-a brochure with all this info

Partnerships were critical to making all their programming work. At the time they hadn't had any issues with ICE attempting to attend programming but that may have changed.

Check to see if your library system has a policy in place regarding requests from law enforcement and ICE. If not, consider asking your system if they can create one.
posted by donut_princess at 2:14 PM on August 8, 2019 [3 favorites]


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