There is a perennial discussion amongst library workers around the world at this time of year about the appropriateness of Christmas Trees in Public Libraries. I am not here to further this discourse, rather I would like to share some of the resources I have created to recognize the festivals of those patrons that do not hold Christmas traditions.
I put together an introductory ‘zine that can be read with the display. It contains basic information about Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, Yule, Ōmisoka & Sol Invictus. This can be downloaded here:
US paper size:
UK paper size:
Hanukkah
I have created a dreidel that can be printed out and used in a library as a way of selecting books – a d-read-l if you will. The idea is to match a genre with one of the four letters of the Hebrew alphabet on the sides of the dreidel – נ (nun), ג (gimel), ה (hei), ש (shin) then when a participant spins the dreidel they get to borrow a book from the genre that matches whichever letter comes up.
US paper size dreidel:
UK paper size dreidel:
I have also made a cardstock menorah, the image can be downloaded and cut out.
I glued three together to give it strength to stand without bending.
You can find out more about Hanakkah here: https://www.chabad.org/holidays/chanukah/default_cdo/jewish/Hanukkah.htm
Kwanzaa
I do not have templates for the Kwanzaa parts of the display but for the candles I used red, black and green card-stock that I rolled together to make candles and white card-stock that I folded into a triangular shape to make a candle-holder. I used strips of each of the three colours of card-stock woven together to make a small Mkeka mat.
You can find out more about Kwanzaa here: http://www.officialkwanzaawebsite.org/
Yule
Yule or Yuletide (“Yule time” or “Yule season”) is a festival historically observed by the Germanic peoples. Scholars have connected the original celebrations of Yule to the Wild Hunt, the god Odin, and the pagan Anglo-Saxon Mōdraniht.
Terms with an etymological equivalent to Yule are still used in Nordic countries and Estonia to describe Christmas and other festivals occurring during the winter holiday season. Today, Yule is celebrated in Heathenry and other forms of Neopaganism.
I created a Yule Reading Log, that, when rolled up resembles a log and has the dual purpose of being used to record one’s reading over the holiday season.
The log can be downloaded here:
US paper size:
UK paper size:
You can find out more about Yule and it’s traditions here: https://www.goddessandgreenman.co.uk/yule
These resources are very simple and can be supplemented by books held in most if not all public (& school) libraries. I hope to extend what I have done here in future years to make the displays more complete. This is just the beginning.
