One of the cool things that we as librarians get to do is training -- webinars, workshops, etc. For one week in July, one of our Reference Librarians was in Skokie, attending a workshop at the Illinois Holocaust Museum & Education Center and the topic was how to teach genocide. The state of Illinois is one of several states to have a mandate in place to teach students about genocide & the Holocaust. The hope is "the instruction shall enable pupils to identify & analyze applicable theories concerning human nature & behavior: to understand that genocide is a consequence of prejudice & discrimination, and to understand that issues of moral dilemma & conscience have a profound impact on life." At the end of the day, what the ultimate goal is that "the instruction will emphasize the personal responsibility that each citizen bears to fight racism & hatred wherever & whenever it happens." The State of Illinois has also created a Illinois Holocaust & Genocide Commission, which provides information on these topics.
(Here is a link to the mandate, for anyone who is interested: 105 ILCS 5/ School Code. (ilga.gov))
The Quincy Public Library realizes that we can be a support in this endeavor. In the most obvious way, we have books & dvds, as well as access to digital resources (such as Kanopy, Hoopla, & Boundless)-. Fiction has been shown to increase empathy, by allowing us to read perspectives & experiences that are not our own. Nonfiction can also help with that but it has the additional layer of giving factual information about a whole variety of things. And QPL is constantly trying to ensure that we have up-to-date resources.
The Quincy Public Library has staff that can help with research - that can be guiding you towards digital or physical resources or accepting a research request, where we help to find the material. (It does fall upon the researcher to read the material, use the correct information, create the paper/presentation/article, cite sources, & edit what they are submitting.) These discussions relating to genocide could be about Raphael Lemkin (a lawyer who coined the term & advocated for the Genocide Convention) or about William Proxmire (a senator from Wisconsin who spent 21 years pushing for the US to sign onto the Genocide Convention), or you can include first person stories from these events or from upstanders who helped the victims. Citizen philanthropy became a thing during the Armenian Genocide. All of this is information picked up at the Illinois Holocaust Museum's workshop, it can be used in a classroom setting, & the Quincy Public Library can help both teachers & students explore any of these or other topics further.
The Quincy Public Library also provides educational programming at the library on a variety of topics. We bring in speakers who are knowledgeable on a specific topic, such as the one from the ACLU in the summer of 2023. The educational programming does include a virtual reality trunk that will be on loan to the Quincy Public Library from the Illinois Holocaust Museum & Education Center, to learn about the Holocaust through first person stories.
Due to the workshop at the Illinois Holocaust Museum, the Quincy Public Library now has a list of digital resources to share with the Quincy community. These can help with general materials or information, as well as information on specific genocides from history (like the Armenian Genocide or the genocide in Cambodia.) The Educators' Institute for Human Rights has all sorts of resources - teacher trainings, bibliographies, etc. They also have a section called Right to Learn (R2L). The Illinois Holocaust Museum & Education Center also has teacher trainings & resources to use, as does the US Holocaust Memorial Museum. (Digital sources below - please explore & use!)
Academy for Human Rights: The Academy for Human Rights - Home
The Documentation Center of Cambodia: DOCUMENTATION CENTER OF CAMBODIA (dccam.org)
Echoes & Reflections: Echoes & Reflections (echoesandreflections.org)
The Educators' Institute for Human Rights: Educator's Institute for Human Rights (eihr.org)
Facing History & Ourselves: Facing History & Ourselves
The Genocide Education Project: Genocide Education Project | Genocide Education Project
Illinois Holocaust & Genocide Commission: Holocaust & Genocide Commission (illinois.gov)
Illinois Holocaust Museum & Education Center: Illinois Holocaust Museum | Chicagoland Museum (ilholocaustmuseum.org)
Near East Relief Museum: Near East Relief Museum | Armenian Genocide Response (neareastmuseum.com)
Reflections on Peace: Imagine project - ReflectionsOnPeace.org
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum: United States Holocaust Memorial Museum (ushmm.org)
Whispered in Gaza: Whispered in Gaza — The Center for Peace Communications (peacecomms.org)
Keep an eye out for book rivers relating to the topic of genocide and/or the Holocaust - for personal reading or for use in classroom settings, at the educator's discretion. Feel free to attend the VR trunk when it is here in August. And together, let's keep learning!