Library Visit

I visited Little Falls Library in Bethesda. This is a middle or upper middle class area of Montgomery County. I was impressed with their children’s collection, specifically the wide selection of text representing diverse cultures. Sections containing these texts were: Spanish, Juvenile Fiction, Picture Books, Biography, Encyclopedias / Reference Books, Holidays, Native Americans and Geography.

Most books representing diverse cultures were in the Geography and Biography sections. There were many books about different countries and peoples. The population in this part of Bethesda has many international families who are employed by the World Bank or embassies in the area. My son’s first grade class, located a mile from the library, has students from Japan, the U.K. and Columbia. The geography section has books representing almost every country in the world. I found books about Myanmar, Yemen, Sri Lanka, the Ivory Coast, and Uzbekistan. It was truly impressive to see so many countries represented.

The library is very accessible by bus and has parking (unlike most DC libraries). However, it is not Metro accessible. The children’s area is on the first floor and the adult section is on the second. I like that the two floors are separated because children are freer to explore and make noise. There is a reading area with tables and a floor area for playing. Computers are available as well.

As I looked for books that may portray cultural stereotypes a few series stood out to me. One is the Lois Lenski books: The Little Fire Engine, The Little Train, Farmer Small, Papa Small, etc. These are lovely books with simple illustrations for young children. The series was published in the 1930’s and 1940’s which why all the women are moms and all the dads are workers. Her books feature Captain Small, Cowboy Small, Pilot Small and Policeman Small doing their jobs. There are no people of color in her books. Despite the stereotyped roles, I love these books because of their simplicity. However, I am always reluctant to read them to my children because I don’t want them to think that all women stay home with children (like their mother and their mother’s friends.) The Froggy series by Jonathan London also has Froggy’s mom in aprons and curlers even though she is a frog. This is a very funny set of books and my kids love them but sometimes I think they perpetuate the stereotype of all women as stay-at-home moms.

Some of the books that I found represented diverse cultures are:

Freedom Walkers, The Story of Montgomery Bus Boycott by Russell Freeman
Like many of Russell Freeman’s books, there are many historic photos. There are many images of the Segregated South. He has included photos of signs that say, “Waiting Room for Colored People” or “Whites Only” and others of blacks sitting in the back of the bus and protests against segregation.


The Kids Book of World Religions by Jennifer Glossop
Illustrations of festivals and temples are included with descriptions of the world’s religions: Sikhism, Buddhism, Baha’I, Hinduism, to name a few.

Series of books on different ethnicities in America: East Indians, Italians, Chinese, etc. by Lerner Publications
This somewhat dated collection was remarkable because the amount of cultural groups covered by the series. It was interesting to look at the many photos of these distinctive communities within the United States.


Hank Aaron: Brave in Every Way by Peter Golenbeck
This biography discusses how Hank Aaron faced hate mail and death threats as he surpassed Babe Ruth’s homerun record.

Visual Geography Series presents books on many different countries even less recognized ones: Pakistan, Yemen, Iran, Uzbekistan, Myanmar, etc.

Raymond Bial’s Lifeways Series is an informative set of books about many different American Indian tribes. I counted 21 tribe. Some of the groups he writes about are: The Huron, The Ojbwe, The Sioux, The Wampanoag, etc.

Oryx – Multicultural Cookbook of Life Cycle Celebrations by Lois Sinaiko Webb has many recipes from all over the world. She describes when and why certain cultures prepare dishes and includes descriptions of the countries represented.

The American Ethnic Cookbook for Students by Mark Zanger was another interesting collection of recipes. Groups represented in the book are Dutch, Finnish, Polish, Portuguese, and Vietnamese.