In honor of Black History Month, both Twin City libraries developed ways for kids and families to learn about the past and embrace the future through interactive activities.
Visitors to the Normal Public Library’s children’s department may notice pages of picture book biographies taped to the walls and book stacks. It’s part of a program called the Black History Month Scavenger Hunt and runs all month long.
Children’s librarian Randi Sutter said the library did a similar program last year, but leveled up for 2023.
“It was much simpler (last year),” Sutter said, “where kids were matching a book cover with a book description. In talks with some of my colleagues, we decided to increase the critical thinking level a little bit, as you know.”
Indeed, I do. This reporter did the whole thing and even managed to win a prize! Participants locate a printout of a book cover hung at kid eye level, then read a page from the book to answer a question. Find all 10 and you get a prize — although the rainbow Saturn sticker already has been claimed.
The Black History Month Scavenger Hunt focuses on picture book biographies about Black historical figures like Ida B. Wells, Zora Neale Hurston and Garrett Morgan, to name a few.
“Picture book biographies have come such a long way,” Sutter said. “The illustrations are gorgeous. They really give you a great glimpse into each of these historical figures’ lives. The artists make these design choices that are really interesting to look at in seeing texture and color. And then you have the great narrative section.”
While the scavenger hunt does require reading, kids of all ages and reading levels are encouraged to participate.
“This is a great team activity, especially for families,” Sutter said. “Picture book biographies are wonderful to read as a family. Everyone can learn something, grown-ups all the way down to preschoolers and young children. If you have a child that’s not quite reading independently, feel free to do it with them. The books are designed to be engaging with beautiful illustrations, so they’ll be able to hold a kid’s attention.”
Any book included in the scavenger hunt and Black History Month display at the top of the stairs to the children’s section can be checked out. And if you look closely, there is an expansive curation of Black authors and themes all around the library.
Bloomington Public Library
Meanwhile, on a stretch of wall in the children’s department at Bloomington Public Library, there is a growing collection of self-portraits called the Diversity Mural.
“Instead of just learning about people from the past, I wanted to make sure that we see the future going forward,” said librarian Alysha Jackson, who dreamed up the project as a way to promote diversity at the library. “So, I thought the best place to start is to have the kids focus on themselves.”
While the mural is intended to celebrate Black History Month, all are encouraged to participate. Folks can use a template to draw their headshot or a full picture of their bodies as they see themselves. Or you can go rogue and create a freehand drawing or collage from materials at home or in the library.
A bucket of markers, colored pencils and crayons provides a multitude of options kids can use to draw their unique skin tones.
“When I was a kid, we only had certain colors of crayons, but now there are tons of different colors,” Jackson said.
Crayola’s Colors of the World pack, for example, has 24 shades like almond, gold and rose.
In addition to the self-serve portrait station in the library’s children’s department, Jackson also takes her self-portrait initiative to schools. She starts by reading “Colors of Us” by Karen Katz, the story of a young artist named Lena who draws portraits of herself, her family and members of her community.
“The book focuses on skin tones," Jackson said, "and they use different foods to describe skin tone. As I read the book to the students, I also asked them to look at their own skin tones and name a crayon that would reflect their skin tone but also reflect the name of a food. For example, I told them I would be caramel. Some of the students said French toast or fluffy marshmallow."
"I thought if we have a mural that shows all those colors, maybe they could see that everyone’s the same, but then everyone is also different.”
You can participate in the Black History Month Scavenger Hunt and Diversity Mural at Normal Public Library and Bloomington Public Library any time the libraries is open. Check in at the Children’s Services Desks on the second floor of both libraries to get started and win a prize.
Each library has a month-long display of titles highlighting Black authors, historical figures and themes for kids and families to explore in the library or check out and bring home.
