[Antiracism] April is a month of Books Building Bridges

[American Friends Service Committee]

April is a Month of
Books Building Bridges!

During the month of April, local librarians, educators and families in 
western Massachusetts will examine the impact of war on libraries, literacy 
and education in the US and in Iraq through their participation in Books 
Building Bridges.

Books Building Bridges is a year-long, community-building project developed 
in order to acknowledge and foster a common human desire for learning, 
authentic connection and a healthy society while transcending political 
divisions in the United States and the geographic and social distance 
between the United States and Iraq. The group was inspired by Jeanette 
Winter's book The Librarian of Basra: a true story from Iraq, which 
chronicles the work of Basra librarian Alia Muhammed Baker who, with her 
community, saved 30,000 volumes from being destroyed during the current war.

In addition to the following calendar of events, book stores and libraries 
throughout the western Massachusetts will feature Books Building Bridges 
displays.  Book drives on many local college campuses will also begin to 
collect college text books for students and faculty of Baghdad University, 
as well as dictionaries and other learning tools for The Literacy Project's 
Adult Basic Education program.  Finally, students of The Literacy Project 
will continue their use of the Books Building Bridges curriculum (available 
on line).

The following is a Books Building Bridges calendar of events:
[Note: all events are free and open to all.  Donations are welcome.]

April 20, 2006, 10am to noon
Jackson Street Elementary School, 120 Jackson Street, Northampton
A vacation-week, family-centered program, which includes:

Author/illustrator Jeanette Winter will read and discuss The Librarian of 
Basra, with projected images from the book
Synopsis: Alia Muhammad Baker is a librarian in Basra, Iraq. For fourteen 
years, her library has been a meeting place for those who love books. Until 
now. Now war has come, and Alia fears that the library  along with the 
thirty thousand books within it  will be destroyed forever.  In a 
war-stricken country where civilians  especially women  have little power, 
this true story about a librarian's struggle to save her community's 
priceless collection of books reminds us all how, throughout the world, the 
love of literature and the respect for knowledge know no boundaries.

Creative & Participatory Learning Stations:
Arabic Calligraphy Instruction
Discussion with BBB Curriculum Educators: use in the classroom
Iraqi Children's Art Exchange
Design Your Own Button
A Taste of Dates and Appreciating the Cultural Significance



April 23, 2006, 1pm to 4:30pm
Holyoke Children's Museum, 444 Dwight Street, Holyoke
A vacation-week, family-centered program, which includes:

1pm & 3pm: bi-lingual (Spanish and English) readings of The Librarian of 
Basra, with projected images from the book
See April 20 summary

2pm & 4pm: Creative & Participatory Learning Stations
See April 20 summary



April 25, 2006, 7pm
Jones Library, 43 Amity Street, Amherst
"Untamed Nostalgia" an evening of poetry and song in Arabic and English 
with Wafaa' Al-Natheema

Wafaa' Al-Natheema is the founder of The Institute of Near Eastern and 
African Studies (INEAS).  For more information about INEAS, please visit: 
www.ineas.org.  For specific details about this program, please call 
Claudia Lefko at 413.584.0068.


Books Building Bridges is a broad-based network of western Massachusetts 
literacy educators, booksellers, librarians, schoolteachers, artists and 
community organizations.  For more information about the project and its 
participants, please visit: www.BooksBuildingBridges.org.

For more information, or to get involved, please call Erika Arthur, 
413.559.1373 or Jo Comerford, 413.695.6059.  All volunteers and 
participants are welcome!!

END


END

"Peace is all around us.  It is not a matter of faith; it is a matter of 
practice."  ~ Thich Nhat Hanh


Jo Comerford
American Friends Service Committee, Western Massachusetts
140 Pine Street, Room 10
Florence, Massachusetts 01062
413.584.8975 (W)
413.584.8987 (F)
413.695.6059 (C)
afsc at crocker.com
www.WesternMassAFSC.org

New Resource:
Ten Reasons Why the US Must Leave Iraq:
http://www.afsc.org/iraq/activism/10-reasons.pdf
http://www.afsc.org/iraq/activism/10-reasons.htm (Text)
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