Diversity Celebrations at Red Deer Public Library

I received a nice email from Jan Underwood of the Central Alberta Refugee Effort (who worked with us for many years in the Children's Department):

Hi

I am in the process of doing my quarterly and annual reports and dealing with many stats so I thought I would send you the ones for the Diversity Month at the Library.

There were 14 storytimes using multicultural books and crafts, attended by 353 children and 154 adults. There were 8 volunteers from C.A.R.E. who presented about their culture at the storytimes. They were from the following countries: Hong Kong, Japan, Poland, England, Sudan, Pakistan, and Colombia.

There were wonderful Displays throughout the Library which will have been seen by hundreds, including C.A.R.E.'s Display on the Bridge, the Multicultural Doll Display, and C.A.D.A.'s Display on the 31st.

Discover Diversity Day was a huge success and was attended by approx. 250 and involved 60 volunteers, including our Mayor and City Manager, C.A.R.E. staff, Library Staff, the multicultural entertainers - Ukrainian, Scottish, Colombian, and belly dancers. Reggae and Colombian singers, Sudanese drummer.

The activities on Diversity Day included children's multicultural crafts, origami, ear massage, henna tattoos, dream catchers, the people project, and boomwhackers.

In total over 750 people were actively involved during the month and hundreds more will have seen the Displays.

Thank you to one and all.This is what being a welcoming and inclusive community is all about.

sincerely
Jan Underwood
C.A.R.E.

Thanks for this update, Jan, and for the great work you're doing in our city.  Thanks also to the Diversity Team at RDPL for their awesome presentation of the many cultures that make up our community.