Live Free and Read!
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By Terry Farish, Connections Facilitator & Former Connections Program Manager
Early on in the picture book The Library Bus, Mama, who is a teacher, says to her daughter Pari that maybe she will go to school next year. Mama says, “Then you will be free.” Pari screams “FREE!” We who are reading the book, elementary-school kids in the Amiko Youth Program, all stood up like Pari and repeated “FREE!” The Amiko students, along with Pari, understood from the preceding page that Mama hadn’t been allowed to go to school because she was a girl, and had to study in secret in the basement with her grandfather.
Can providing access to a library change lives? The summer Connections series with the Amiko Youth Program featured The Library Bus by Bahram Rahman, illustrated by Gabrielle Grimard. In the story, Mama is the driver of a bus fitted with shelves of books. Her route takes the collection into rural villages where girls can borrow books and have lessons in the bus with Mama. We read the book the day before students went on a field trip to the Manchester City Library. Reading The Library Bus became a true book discussion in which kids had lots to say including their ideas about the rights of girls and women, and about the illustrator’s dedication. Grimard dedicated the book “To all the beautiful people who contribute in their way to make the world a better place.” Before we read, I asked kids to think about how they would like to change the world, or part of the world, to make it better.
Two of the students were from Afghanistan. Everyone had friends from Afghanistan or spoke Farsi like five-year old Pari and Mama in The Library Bus. The story resonated with the young readers. As we talked out the scenes, I needed to be sensitive about presenting the lack of freedoms reported by U.S. media and NGOs to the group with two Afghan students. The author does it with his scenes, but two Amiko students, Emran and Mahnaz, also began to add information about girls’ education and lack of equality. They became key to others’ understanding. I really liked that they felt safe and chose to offer their experience and opinions.
After reading, we returned to the illustrator’s dedication and students called out what they’d do to make a better world:
“I would make it so girls could show their face outside in Afghanistan.
They can walk outside.”
“In my country, Afghanistan, girls can go to school. Everyone will be free.”
“ICE is gone [in Manchester]. That is freedom.”
“Everyone has cell phones so they can text each other.”
“Water.”
“Food.”
“Pens, highlighters, pencils, eraser, markers so you can make a story.”
“A book.” This was the answer of many. Books, a library bus.
With this discussion in their minds, students drew pictures about what they would offer a community or the world to make it better. I’m glad we had time to do this because the students who spoke less had some brilliant ideas they expressed visually about how to make a better world. Jaime Pendleton, associate director the SNHU Center for New Americans, made a gallery of their drawings on the walls.
We ended with Mahnaz’s tempered words on whether Pari will be able to go to school like she wants to: “Maybe she will go to school. It depends.” The theme of freedom and especially Pari’s freedom to have books and go to school was our refrain.
