Tuesday was a great day! I started out my day at the Central Library meeting with my supervisor and with their AmeriCorps VISTA volunteer, Michelle. I spent most of the day with Michelle, and tagged along to a meeting at one of the small urban branches, the Northeast Branch. She was checking to see how she could help with outreach to promote their once a month program about Citizenship, during which a lawyer comes out from LegalAid and tries to help recent immigrants with citizenship questions and forms.
We ate lunch at a fabulous Colombian Restaurant and then I worked on the website project for a while. From 4-6, I sat in on a "Conversation Circle" with Michelle. It was inspiring to hear the students' stories, and I really enjoyed it. There were three students - one from Guinea, one from Somalia, and one from Japan. They each brought something unique to the conversation, and topics ranged from favorite ice cream flavor to the reasons for the Second World War to the issue of polygamy. The conversation was candid and respectful, and it was amazing to hear such different perspectives on the issues. I would LOVE to try this model out at CML...
I ended the evening at the Franklin branch and observed a traditional Somali storytelling program called "Fireside Stories." Somali customers of all ages popped in and out of the program and it was fun to be a part of the process. They were very welcoming and kept insisting that the storyteller translate for us so that we knew what was happening. I particularly enjoyed the traditional songs that had a "call and response" portion that even I could pick up on, despite the language barrier. I wish I could duplicate the storyteller, Maryan (sp?) and bring her back to Columbus with me!
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