On MLK Day, children and their families were invited to the Penn Libraries to celebrate the power of storytelling.
Storytelling, Bookmaking, and Community Literacy
The work PLCE does is inherently bound up with stories; hearing them, telling them, reading them, and identifying with them. We also understand that stories are subject to matrices of power that dictate who gets to tell their story, whose stories get remembered and believed, and whose stories are deemed valuable. We believe that every one of us contains stories, and we want everyone to be able to tell their stories and access stories that matter to them knowing that both are powerful acts that will be remembered.
Current Projects and Initiatives
Bookmaking
This project gives young readers, authors, and illustrators a chance to add their stories to the shelves around them by making their own books. Having a real, tangible book emphasizes to students that their words are worthy of being published and read, and that they have something to teach other kids and grown-ups alike. We all benefit from students’ voices being amplified; we all stand to learn from their inclusion amongst our trusted texts.
Unearthing Literacy
The Unearthing Literacy Project engages with members of our Philadelphia community to learn more about the ways we learn from and teach others outside of the classroom. Through this project we hope to highlight informal literacy practices and stories that paint a broader picture of what literacy means (beyond the degrading binary of “literate” and “illiterate.”)
Read more about these efforts
Checking in with the Penn Libraries Community Engagement Team
