We had our first day of work in the International Youth Library today. There are seven of us and we each are researching different topics. Here's mine: IFLA, the International Federation of Library Associations, has published a multicultural library manifesto. In it, they describe what a multicultural library is, what it's mission and goals should be, it's materials, services, policies, etc. The section on implementation just says to disseminate the manifesto and practice its principles. What I am attempting to do is create a practical plan for school librarians who would like to make their libraries more multicultural. Why would they want to do that? Two reasons. One is that we serve muticultural patrons: our students. The other is that state curriculum includes teaching about different cultures. So what I'm doing is taking the broad brush strokes of the IFLA manifesto and creating a more practical guide to follow. What I hope to gain from the library here is a familiarity with international children's literature. There are dozens of lists for librarians of recommended titles of multicultural children's and young adult literature, but rather than just blindly pass the recommendations along, I want to actually see and evaluate the books first hand. And probably create my own list of translated books that would be available to American school librarians to buy for their libraries. I will also probably create an evaluation tool for librarians to go by when selecting international books. So, here is a video of the inside of a very old chapel that is in the castle that the library is in.
