I don’t say this often enough and I should. Queens Public Library, you are awesome!
This week, Joseph Berger wrote in the New York Times about “Queens Libraries Speak the Mother Tongue“. The Mitchell-Linden branch of the Queens Public Library has just been so welcoming and inclusive to us and all the parents and children in the neighborhood. The wonderful children’s librarian in the the Mitchell-Linden library, Mrs H, makes an effort to know all the children’s names in the correct intonation, no matter what languages their families speak, and can greet everyone in their own language.
I also remember an incident when a Chinese-speaking parent asked her in tentative English,
“How do I read a story like you to my child?”
And Mrs H asked, “What language do you feel most comfortable in?”
Parent: “Chinese”
Mrs H: “You can read in Chinese too – it doesn’t have to be in English. What’s most important is to have your child see you enjoying reading and sharing a book with her.”
I love this neighborhood and all the languages that we are surrounded by and feel lucky that my daughter can grow up in this environment.
