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Global Neighbors Series

July 16, 2020

By Sadia Ahmed, Public Programs Coordinator, Gail Borden Public Library, Elgin, Ill.

Gail Borden Public Library's Global Neighbors Series helps our patrons experience the culture and contributions of the people who live in our community. Our goal is to foster an understanding between cultural and ethnic groups to help build a stronger community through social, civic, and global awareness.

The series, held three times in 2019, featured local speakers from the chosen country as well as traditional food, music, film and other activities. We had programs for Scotland, Germany, Columbia and Poland.

Unfortunately, we had to postpone our program on Greece that was scheduled for May 2020 due to COVID-19.

Audience

Adult

Children / Family

Community Members

Older Adults / Seniors

Popular Topics

Community Engagement

Budget

$51-100

Advance Planning

It usually takes a couple months to coordinate the presenter, entertainment and food for the program.

Our first step is to research and consider our whole library district’s demographics and where people come from. We are lucky to live in such a diverse area! Once we choose a country, we need to find a speaker/presenter for the program. Through our partnerships and contacts, we have found presenters from each country who are local to Elgin.

We do not look for professional speakers, just someone who is from that country and can give a casual, authentic presentation about their country's culture. For example, the presenter for our Germany program was a teacher at Elgin Community College. Along with her PowerPoint presentation, she brought interesting German artifacts and utensils.

Once a presenter is chosen, the next step is to find authentic food and entertainment. The restaurants we contacted are in Elgin or the surrounding area. For entertainment, I look up weekend schools or cultural dance schools in our area. For our Poland program, I found a Polish Weekend school who came and performed traditional dances for us.

Marketing

We started promoting about three weeks prior to the program with newsletters, fliers and a large poster in the building.

Budget Details

With all the generous contributions from local restaurants, dance groups and gratis presenters, we have been able to provide these programs within a $100 budget.

Day-of-event Activity

On the day of the program, we make sure everything is set up for the presenter, entertainers and food display. We had two or three staff members and two volunteers on hand to help greet, take pictures and pass out food. We needed to to make sure the timing for everything was planned out.

Program Execution

We had over 100 people at each event with overwhelmingly positive feedback. Patrons were asking when we will have the next one so it's disappointing that the pandemic has left us without the anticipated Greece program.

Advice

I believe these types of programs are much needed given the racial inequity we are facing in current times.

Unfortunately, with current restrictions on in-person programming, we are not sure how the attendance would be if we presented this program virtually. If you want to do this program once it is safe to be together, we discovered that the best flow is to have patrons get food first and then sit for the presentation. Another tip is to keep the presentation to 15 or 20 minutes, then have time for Q&A and entertainment at the end.

Short Title

Global Neighbors Series

By Sadia Ahmed, Public Programs Coordinator, Gail Borden Public Library, Elgin, Ill.

Gail Borden Public Library's Global Neighbors Series helps our patrons experience the culture and contributions of the people who live in our community. Our goal is to foster an understanding between cultural and ethnic groups to help build a stronger community through social, civic, and global awareness.

The series, held three times in 2019, featured local speakers from the chosen country as well as traditional food, music, film and other activities. We had programs for Scotland, Germany, Columbia and Poland.

Unfortunately, we had to postpone our program on Greece that was scheduled for May 2020 due to COVID-19.

Classifications

Audience

Adult

Children / Family

Community Members

Older Adults / Seniors

Popular Topics

Community Engagement

Budget

$51-100

Details

Advance Planning

It usually takes a couple months to coordinate the presenter, entertainment and food for the program.

Our first step is to research and consider our whole library district’s demographics and where people come from. We are lucky to live in such a diverse area! Once we choose a country, we need to find a speaker/presenter for the program. Through our partnerships and contacts, we have found presenters from each country who are local to Elgin.

We do not look for professional speakers, just someone who is from that country and can give a casual, authentic presentation about their country's culture. For example, the presenter for our Germany program was a teacher at Elgin Community College. Along with her PowerPoint presentation, she brought interesting German artifacts and utensils.

Once a presenter is chosen, the next step is to find authentic food and entertainment. The restaurants we contacted are in Elgin or the surrounding area. For entertainment, I look up weekend schools or cultural dance schools in our area. For our Poland program, I found a Polish Weekend school who came and performed traditional dances for us.

Marketing

We started promoting about three weeks prior to the program with newsletters, fliers and a large poster in the building.

Budget Details

With all the generous contributions from local restaurants, dance groups and gratis presenters, we have been able to provide these programs within a $100 budget.

Day-of-event Activity

On the day of the program, we make sure everything is set up for the presenter, entertainers and food display. We had two or three staff members and two volunteers on hand to help greet, take pictures and pass out food. We needed to to make sure the timing for everything was planned out.

Program Execution

We had over 100 people at each event with overwhelmingly positive feedback. Patrons were asking when we will have the next one so it's disappointing that the pandemic has left us without the anticipated Greece program.

Advice

I believe these types of programs are much needed given the racial inequity we are facing in current times.

Unfortunately, with current restrictions on in-person programming, we are not sure how the attendance would be if we presented this program virtually. If you want to do this program once it is safe to be together, we discovered that the best flow is to have patrons get food first and then sit for the presentation. Another tip is to keep the presentation to 15 or 20 minutes, then have time for Q&A and entertainment at the end.

About Library

globe sitting on a table

Library Name

Gail Borden Public Library

Location

Elgin,

Ill.

Library Type

Public

Library Description

Gail Borden Public Library serves the fifth largest library population in Illinois and is the largest library district in the state of Illinois for population served. We also cater to a diverse group of patrons.

Tags

cultural program

community engagement

library program introducing neighbors to other cultures

cultural exploration

Program Date

Thu, 2019-01-24

Summary

Gail Borden Public Library helps patrons experience the culture and contributions of their neighbors.

Comments:

Programming Librarian Forum

About This Library

Library Name

Gail Borden Public Library

Location

Elgin,

Ill.

Library Type

Public

Library Description

Gail Borden Public Library serves the fifth largest library population in Illinois and is the largest library district in the state of Illinois for population served. We also cater to a diverse group of patrons.