Harmony and Diversity

Image Credit: T Tun

The Challenge

The diversity of the student population needs to be acknowledged and reflected in the library. The school library that I am working in serves a student population of over 60% who identify as speakers of "English as an Additional Language or Dialect" (EALD).

The readings and preparations for ETL 402 - Literature across the curriculum, made me aware of the themes in current multicultural literature. In preparation for the assignment, I read the CBCA award winning book Tiger Daughter(Lim, 2021), where the protagonist Wen laments the library is another place where she feels excluded, because the book covers portray characters who look very different from her.

This was a literary learning experience for me, as I saw myself reflected in the struggle of Wen ( Tun, May21,2023). I also read that monoclonal display of books on the library shelves, can lead to inappropriate representation leading to stereotypes and social injustice (Adam et al., 2021). Discovering movements such as “We need more diverse books” (Mabbot, 2017) brought home the importance of reflecting the makeup of the student body on the shelves. This led me to write an essay called "Hidden Harmony: The importance of cultural identity in the multicultural collection" for assessment 1 task of ETL402. The feedback I got was very positive and further challenged me to implement the multicultural collection in the library.

The Welcome Sign

In ETL 501-Module 1, I was introduced in ways to create a welcoming entrance to the library. This idea was finally eventuated as I became more confident in my role. Recently, I used resources from twinkl (twinkl,n.d) to create a greeting and welcome sign in many languages spoken in the school. It has become a “watering hole”(Thornburg, 2004) where, The students love to identify, and talk about the language that they hear or speak at home. Their sense of connection with their roots lead to pride and celebration of diversity. I also communicated the presence of the installation and the students’ response, in the school newsletter with photos of the children finding their language. When the EALD teacher saw the interest the welcome sign generated, she offered to collaborate to build up the multicultural collection. This is the trust created, because the authenticity of my image ( Tun, July 14, 2023a) , and I was leading by taking responsibility of the library’s image.

Multicultral Collection and Pride

The importance of multiculturalism needs to be modelled.

I focused on my strength of life experience, and modelled pride in multiculturalism by being visible as suggested by Karen Bonnano (Tun, April 13, 2022).

On harmony day, I dressed in my national costume with pride. The organiser of the event later asked for my picture with a colleague for the harmony day display. I am leading by nurturing the concept of diversity. My visibility allows for creation of authenticity (Tun, July 14, 2023a ) towards acceptance of diversity as the norm.

Grasso(2016) impressed that multicultural literature collection engenders friendships across cultural barriers . I agree with her in the position that race becomes a valuable asset to the identity of the multicultural world of the students. I personally believe that this leads to harmony.

Hence, I identified the gaps of the collection and developed the collection to meets the needs of the school community (Tun, May22, 2022). The collection in the library is now actively diversified by purchasing and curating books that reflect the student body.

Grasso (2016) specifies that the books chosen need to be accurate in their cultural depiction and and ensure that multicultural literature is embedded in the fabric of the library's activities. Hence, sophisticated picture books such as Min Leh's (2018) "Drawn together" is presented at communication meetings to create awareness of the way I am addressing this need. Books on world religions, art, fables and stories from all over the world, and festivals are all prominently displayed. The literary learning (Tun, May21, 2023) allows the readers to immerse themselves in the world of others, and promotes awareness of global issues (Grasso, 2016).

These books are not displayed only on harmony day. They are part of the collection to be borrowed, read, and reflected, creating a sense of belonging and social justice (Ford, 2018).

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