Anarchy at the library...

Complete chaos. That perfectly described my experience on Monday night when my internship supervisor (Rose) and I headed with 47 lovely refugees to the local public library. Prior to loading the massive school bus that would be taking us to our destination, Rose tried to describe bus and library protocol to the group using rudimentary English and other students as translators. The truth is no matter what she said or how she said it, nothing would have prepared this group (or me) for what laid ahead.

After unloading the bus and making sure no children were left on the bus (seriously with 30+ children on the bus it is bound to happen sometime soon), our massive group bolted into the tiny library thus producing the biggest commotion that suburban library had ever seen. Kids were running around grabbing books, DVDs, and coloring sheets from who knows where. More than half of them were scurrying back and forth between the children’s section of the library to their mothers who were chatting loudly at the library’s front desk to each other as they waited to procure their newest connection to American culture – a library card.

Despite the evening causing me to run around like crazy woman as I tried to set up e-mail accounts, Google Burmese soap-operas, find musicals on DVD, and make sure the kids were not going to give the children’s librarian a heart attack, it was truly a beautiful experience. Growing up I went to the library once a week and I love the opportunities, conversations, and worlds that were produced by its contents. It was truly wonderful to be able to connect these families to a place that has been such a large part of my life.

Moreover it was great seeing the families get plugged into American culture. From the popular children’s book When You Give a Mouse a Cookie to the Black Eyed Peas Elephunk album, these people who have been displaced from their own homelands were gaining the tools necessary to connect them to their new American life. Even the death glares the library’s other patrons shot at the group could not bring down the sheer joy I had on my face. How could you not love the beauty of the scene? Yes, the night bridged upon anarchy, but it was about people overcoming their past and carrying on their lives. It was simply amazing.